NOTES 


FOR 


A   HISTORY   OF    LEAD. 


NOTES 


FOR 


A    HISTORY    OF    LEAD 


AND  AN  INQUIRY   INTO  THE   DEVELOPMENT 


OF 


THE  MAmiFACTUKE   OF  WHITE  LEAD 
AND  LEAD  OXIDES 


COMPILED    BY 

WILLIAM  H.   PULSIPEB 


NEW  YORK 

D.     VAN     NOSTRAND 

23  MURRAY  AND  27  WARREN  STREET 
1888 


Copyright,   1888, 
BY  WILLIAM  H.  PDLSIFEH. 


Press: 
JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE. 


PREFACE. 


THIS  compilation  is  the  result  of  a  promise  to  a  friend 
to  prepare  a  paper  upon  the  HISTORY  OF  LEAD,  to  be 
read  at  a  social  meeting  of  a  trade  club.  My  interest  in 
the  subject  persisted  after  the  paper  was  prepared,  and  I 
continued  to  collect  notes,  at  such  times  as  a  busy  man 
of  affairs  could  spare,  with  no  purpose  or  plan  other  than 
to  gratify  a  thoroughly  aroused  interest  in  the  subject, 
and  as  a  relaxation  and  a  relief  from  the  friction  and 
perplexities  of  business. 

Le  Febvre,  in  his  "Compendious  Body  of  Chyrnistry," 
published  early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  says:  "Lead 
is  the  vilest  and  most  abject  of  metals ; "  and  book- 
makers generally  have  entertained  as  mean  an  opinion 
of  it.  They  have  treated  its  chemistry  and  metallurgy 
exhaustively,  but  its  history  seems  to  have  been  neglected, 
as  I  have  been  unable  to  find  a  work  devoted  to  this  sub- 
ject, or  even  a  satisfactory  historical  sketch  in  such  tech- 
nological works  as  have  come  under  my  observation.  I 
have  been  tempted,  therefore,  to  put  into  permanent  form 
a  summary  of  the  notes  I  have  collected.  In  my  re- 
searches I  found  some  interesting  material  relating  to  the 
manufacture  of  white  lead,  and  was  led  to  investigate  the 
development  of  the  practice  of  one  of  the  earliest  known 


Vi  PREFACE. 

chemical  processes.  The  results  of  my  inquiries  in  this 
direction  I  have  added,  together  with  some  notes  upon 
the  early  use  of  lead  oxides,  and  the  methods  employed 
in  their  manufacture. 

I  have  wished  to  give  full  and  proper  credit  for  all 
facts  and  statements  cited,  and  have  tried  to  do  so.  But 
possibly  some  inaccuracies  or  omissions  have  been  occa- 
sioned by  the  desultory  manner  in  which  the  work  has 
been  compiled,  and  my  absence  from  home  during  much 
of  the  time  that  the  work  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the 
printer,  with  the  consequent  inability  to  verify  references. 

With  these  explanations  it  may  be  proper,  perhaps, 
for  me  to  suggest  that  this  compilation  be  considered  as 
merely  an  enlargement  or  an  amplification  of  the  article 
prepared  as  an  after-dinner  paper  for  a  paint  club. 


WILLIAM   H.  PULSIFER. 
ST.  Louis,  December,  1887. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     INTRODUCTION 1 

II.     THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  ANTIQUITY 15 

III.  THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 46 

IV.  LEAD  MINING  IN  EUROPE,  ASIA,  AFRICA,  AND  AUSTRA- 

LIA IN  MODERN  TIMES 55 

V.     LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA 71 

VI.     SMELTING  AND  REFINING 114 

VII.     THE  USES  OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES 146 

VIII.     LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 175 

IX.     WHITE  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES 196 

X.  WHITE  LEAD,  EIGHTH  TO  TWELFTH  CENTURY       .     .     .  217 

XI.  WHITE  LEAD,  TWELFTH  TO  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  .     .  239 

XII.  WHITE  LEAD  IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM      .     .  255 

XIII.  WHITE  LEAD  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN 276 

XIV.  WHITE  LEAD  IN  FRANCE 292 

XV.  WHITE  LEAD  IN  GERMANY  AND  AUSTRO-HUNGARY    .     .  301 

XVI.     WHITE  LEAD  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 313 

XVII.  LEAD  OXIDES. — DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE  .  335 


INDEX 361 


A    HISTORY    OF   LEAD. 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

ALL  primitive  nations  who  attained  to  any  notable  de- 
gree of  civilization  and  political  advancement  had 
a  knowledge  of,  and  used,  some  of  the  more  common  and 
widely  distributed  metals.1  There  is  little  trustworthy 
historical  information  regarding  the  chemical  and-  metal- 
lurgical processes  by  which  metals  were  gained  from  their 
ores  in  ancient  times ;  but  the  early  Egyptian  monuments 
present  pictorial  descriptions  of  smelting,  and  the  earliest 
written  records  extant  mention  the  results  of  metallurgical 
operations  in  a  manner  which  clearly  shows  that  these 
processes  had  long  been  known.  It  is  possible  that  the 
writers  of  such  works  treating  upon  scientific  subjects  as 
have  come  down  to  us  were  acquainted  with  the  results 
only  of  the  ancient  metallurgists,  and  not  with  the  methods 
employed  by  them ;  it  is  possible  also  that  the  information 
we  seek  was  contained  in  works  which  have  been  lost. 

It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  assign  any  period  for  the 
discovery  of  metals.  They  have  undoubtedly  been  inde- 
pendently discovered  by  many  peoples  and  at  various 

1  Lenormant,  quoted  by  Bapst,  declares  that  the  Chinese,  in  the  time  of  Yu 
(2000  B.  c.),  were  acquainted  with  all  the  metals.  See  "  L'Orfeverie  d'etain, 
par  Germain  Bapst,  Revue  Arche"ologique,"  vol.  xliii. 

1 


2  r  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

times.  Some  have  been  discovered  and  forgotten,  redis- 
covered and  forgotten  again,  by  people  of  the  same  nation, 
and  have  received  new  names  at  each  new  discovery. 

The  remarkable  properties  of  metals  excited  the  super- 
stition of  primitive  man,  and  their  origin  and  discovery 
were  frequently  attributed  to  supernatural  causes.  Every 
early  nation  had  its  myths  to  account  for  these  phenom- 
ena. The  ancient  Egyptians  accorded  the  honor  of  the 
discovery  of  metals  to  their  first  sovereigns.  The  Phoe- 
nicians attributed  this  discovery  to  their  heroes.1  Pliny 
declares  that  gold  mines,  and  the  method  by  which  gold 
may  be  fused,  were  discovered  by  Cadmus  the  Phoenician, 
or  by  Thoas,  or  Eaclis  in  Panchaia,  or  by  Sol  the  son  of 
Oceanus.2  Aeschylus  ascribes  the  invention  of  metals  to 
Prometheus.  Aristotle  declares  that  some  shepherds  in 
Spain  having  set  fire  to  the  woods  and  heated  the  earth, 
the  silver  that  was  near  the  surface  melted  and  flowed 
together  in  a  heap,  and  that  a  little  while  after  there 
happened  an  earthquake  which  cleaved  the  earth  and  dis- 
closed a  vast  quantity  of  silver.  This  fable  is  alluded 
to  by  Strabo,3  and  Lucretius  thus  describes  a  similar 
phenomenon  :  — 

"  Whatever  'twas  that  gave  these  flames  their  birth, 
Which  burnt  the  towering  trees  and  scorched  the  earth, 
Hot  streams  of  silver,  gold,  and  lead,  and  brass, 
As  nature  gave  a  hollow  proper  place, 
Descended  down  and  formed  a  glittering  mass."  4 

The  God  of  the  Sun  —  the  Helios  of  the  Greeks,  and 
Sol  of  the  Komans  —  was  accredited  with  the  discovery  of 

1  De  Goguet,  The  Origin  of  Laws,  Arts,  Sciences,  and  their  Progress  among 
most  Ancient  Nations  (3  vols,  Edinburgh,  1761),  vol.  i.  p.  141. 

2  The   Natural  History  of  Pliny  (Bohn's  edition,  6  vols.,  London,  1855), 
book  vii.  chap.  Ivii. 

8  Strabo's  Geography  (Bohn's  edition,  3  vols.,  London,  1854),  book  iii. 
chap.  ii. 

4  Lucretius  (Creech's  translation,  London),  vol.  ii.  p.  572. 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

the  art  of  metallurgy,  and  with  the  power  of  producing 
and  controlling  gold,  with  which  metal  his  name  has  al- 
ways been  associated. 

The  testimony  of  ancient  writers  points  to  the  far  East 
as  the  source  of  their  knowledge  of  the  metals,  and  of 
the  arts  and  sciences.  The  Egyptian,  Assyrian,  and  Baby- 
lonian monuments  bear  evidence  that  at  a  very  remote 
period  those  nations  had  acquired  great  wealth  and  power, 
and  had  attained  a  high  degree  of  civilization.  They 
prosecuted  mining  operations  upon  an  extensive  scale, 
were  acquainted  with  many  metallurgical  processes,  and 
reached  a  very  considerable  degree  of  perfection  in  the 
art  of  working  metals. 

The  Hebrews  seem  to  have  gained  their  scientific  knowl- 
edge from  the  Egyptians.  They  mention  in  their  writings 
the  same  metals,  and  probably  were  only  acquainted  with 
the  scientific  methods  acquired  during  their  residence  in 
Egypt. 

The  Phoenicians,  according  to  fabulous  history,  orig- 
inated in  the  country  bordering  upon  the  Indian  Ocean. 
Driven  from  their  land  by  an  earthquake,  they  settled 
upon  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  before  the  time  of 
Abraham,  and  founded  the  cities  of  Sidon  and  Tyre. 
They  were  bold  sailors,  and  the  first  navigators  to  under- 
take long  voyages.  They  steered  their  barks  at  night 
by  the  constellation  of  the  Little  Bear;  and  their  nau- 
tical skill  has  been  considered  as  evidence  of  their  astro- 
nomical knowledge,  the  origin  of  this  science,  as  well 
as  of  arithmetic,  has  been  attributed  to  them.1 

In  obedience  to  an  oracle  which,  Strabo  says,  com- 
manded the  Tyrians  to  found  a  colony  by  the  Pillars  of 
Hercules,2  the  Phoenicians,  as  early  as  1100  B.  c.,  pushed 

1  Pliny,  book  vii.  chap.  Ivii.     See  also  "  Historical  Survey  of  the  Astronomy 
of  the  Ancients,"  by  Sir  Geo.  C.  Lewis.     London,  1862,  p.  447. 

2  Strabo,  book  iii.  chap.  v. 


4  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

into  the  Atlantic,  and  coasting  along  the  shores  of  Spain, 
landed  and  founded  a  settlement  which  they  named  Gadir, 
called  Gades  by  the  Romans,  meaning  literally  "  a  refuge," 
the  site  of  the  modern  city  of  Cadiz.  An  extensive 
trade  was  at  once  established  with  the  natives,  who  pos- 
sessed great  stores  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  lead.  The 
country  in  the  neighborhood  was  gradually  subdued,  set- 
tlements were  made  in  the  interior,  and  they  soon  had 
the  entire  control  of  the  valuable  trade  of  Iberia  and 
Lusitania,  —  the  countries  now  known  as  Spain  and  Por- 
tugal. The  metals,  so  abundant  in  those  countries,  were 
easily  procured,  and  became  the  source  of  great  wealth 
and  power. 

The  Phoenicians  also  founded  Carthage  and  other  col- 
onies on  the  Mediterranean;  they  traversed  the  Aegean 
Sea,  and  established  settlements  at  every  point  convenient 
for  mining  and  trading. 

The  Carthaginians  succeeded  their  ancestors,  the  Phoe- 
nicians, in  the  possession  of  the  mines  of  Spain.  They 
formed  settlements  along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean, 
and  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  to  connect  the  parent 
colony  with  the  settlements  in  Iberia,  and  thus  insure 
their  supremacy.  In  the  time  of  Diodorus  the  Cartha- 
ginians encouraged  mining  enterprises,  and  were  accredited 
with  having  opened  all  the  mines  then  known.1 

Iberia  was  unknown  to  the  Greeks  until  the  fifth  or 
sixth  century  before  Christ,  after  this  period  they  con- 
tested with  the  Phoenicians  for  the  possession  of  that 
country  and  its  valuable  commerce.  The  fall  and  de- 
struction of  Tyre  (573  B.  c.)  was  followed  by  the  gradual 
decline  of  the  Phoenician  colonies  and  the  rise  of  Greece 
and  Home. 

1  The  Carthaginians  are  said  to  have  erected  a  temple  to  Aletes,  who  dis- 
covered some  valuable  mines.  A.  H.  HEEREN  :  Ancient  Nations  of  Africa 
(Oxford,  1838),  vol.  i.  p.  151. 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

The  early  inhabitants  of  Greece  were  a  rude  and  bar- 
barous people,  living  in  caves,  clothed  in  the  skins  of 
wild  beasts,  at  perpetual  war  with  each  other,  and,  owing 
to  the  inhospitable  character  of  a  portion  of  their  country, 
they  were  often  driven  to  such  straits  for  want  of  food 
that  cannibalism  was  not  infrequent.1 

A  colony  from  the  East  is  said  to  have  made  a  settle- 
ment in  Greece  about  the  time  of  Abraham,  but  it  was 
not  of  long  duration.  De  Goguet  says  the  civilization  of 
that  country  dates  from  the  foundation  of  colonies  by 
the  Phoenicians  and  Egyptians  at  a  later  period.  Schlie- 
mann  found  evidences  of  Phoenician  and  Egyptian  in- 
fluences2 in  the  decoration  of  the  pottery  of  ancient 
Argos,  in  the  legends  illustrated  in  some  of  the  antiquities 
discovered  at  Mycenae  and  at  Tiryns,  and  in  the  methods 
employed  in  the  construction  of  the  walls  and  buildings. 
But  Grote,  while  he  admits  that  traces  of  Phoenician  settle- 
ments may  be  found  in  some  of  the  Grecian  Islands,  sees 
no  proof  for  probable  inference  that  the  Egyptians  and 
the  Phoenicians  settled  in  continental  Greece.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  these  early  Greeks  were  an  enterprising  people ; 
but  their  activity  seems  to  have  been  directed  more  to 
conquest  and  to  the  extension  of  their  political  power 
than  to  commerce  and  the  peaceful  arts.  They  conquered 
the  countries  bordering  upon  the  Aegean  Sea,  and  founded 
colonies,  but  for  many  centuries  the  arts  and  sciences 
made  little  progress  with  them.3 

Rhodes,  a  Greek  colony,  very  early  became  the  seat  of 
a  high  civilization.  The  Rhodians  were  long  masters  of 
the  sea,  and  became  allies  of  the  Romans.  They  excelled 

*  l  De  Goguet,  vol.  i.  p.  64.     See  also  Pliny,  book  vii.  chap.  Ivii.     See  also 
A.  H.  L.  Heeren,  Historical  Researches  into  the  Politics,  Intercourse,  and  Trade 
of  the  Principal  Nations  of  Antiquity  (Oxford,  1833),  vol.  ii.  p.  37. 
2  Schliemann  (Tiryns,  New  York,  1885),  pp.  21,  28. 

,8  See  Grote's  History  of  Greece  (12  vols.,  London,  1851),  vol.  ii.  p.  357 
et  seq.     Also  De  Goguet,  vol.  i.  p.  65  et  seq. 


6  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  their  manufactures  became 
famous  throughout  the  civilized  world.  Homer  bears 
testimony  to  the  early  prosperity  of  the  Rhodians,  and 
says :  "  They  were  the  beloved  of  Jupiter,  who  poured 
abundant  riches  on  their  new  abode."  l  Strabo  says  of 
the  city  of  Rhodes :  "  Its  harbors,  roads,  walls,  and  other 
buildings,  so  much  surpass  other  cities  that  we  know  of 
none  equal  to  it."2 

The  Greeks  in  Strabo's  time  had  made  great  advances 
in  science,  and  appear  to  have  acquired  more  accurate 
information  regarding  the  general  constitution  of  metals, 
and  to  have  given  the  names  to  many  metallic  substances 
by  which  they  are  known  to-day.3 

There  are  many  references  to  metals  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, but  the  statements  regarding  metallurgical  processes 
are  vague  and  obscure,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
early  translators  often  substituted  the  name  of  a  metal 
known  to  them  when  in  doubt  respecting  the  metal  men- 
tioned in  the  text.  The  works  of  early  profane  authors 
frequently  contain  statements  regarding  metals  which,  in 
the  light  of  modern  science  and  experience,  appear  inac- 
curate and  unacceptable. 

The  metals  known  to  the  Egyptians,  Hebrews,  Phoeni- 
cians, and  other  early  nations,  were  gold,  silver,  iron,  copper, 
tin,  and  lead.  The  Greeks  and  Romans,  about  the  begin- 
ning of  our  era,  knew  the  metal  quicksilver,  but  it  is  im- 
possible to  .say  when  it  was  discovered ;  its  ore,  cinnabar, 
had  long  been  known  and  used  as  a  pigment.  Pliny  and 
Dioscorides,  in  the  first  and  second  centuries,  describe  it 
accurately  and  mention  its  use  in  purifying  gold.  Dios- 
corides suggests  a  process  for  recovering  it  from  its  ores. 

1  Iliad,  Bryant's  translation  (Boston,  1875),  vol.  i.  p.  857. 

2  Strabo,  book  xiv.  chap.  ii. 

3  Dr.  H.  Kopp,  Geschichte  der  Chemie  (Braunschweig,  1843,  erster  Theil), 
p.  19. 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

The  Romans  at  this  time  were  acquainted  with  the  oxides 
and  chlorides  of  several  metals,  and  their  methods  of  pre- 
paring them  differed  but  little  from  those  in  use  to-day-. 

It  is  extremely  probable  that  gold  was  the  first  metal 
known  to  man.  It  is  more  commonly  found  pure  in 
nature  than  any  other  metal,  and  more  easily  procured, 
often  occurring  in  the  beds  of  streams,  —  where  it  has 
been  carried  after  being  freed  from  its  matrix  by  the 
decomposition  of  the  rocks  in  which  it  was  originally  de- 
posited, —  and  in  the  gravel  with  which  the  beds  of  ancient 
rivers  are  often  filled.  Its  power  to  resist  atmospheric 
influences  tends  to  preserve  its  rich  color ;  this  characteristic, 
together  with  its  great  weight,  must  have  attracted  the 
attention  of  primitive  man.  All  ancient  accounts  point  to 
this  conclusion ;  indeed,  in  some  countries,  when  silver  was 
first  discovered  it  was  called  "  white  gold."  1  Copper  is 
also  found  pure  in  nature,  and  was  known  and  extensively 
used  at  a  remote  period.  Silver  is  more  rarely  found 
native  than  either  gold  or  copper,  and  in  very  early  times 
was  more  valuable  than  gold.  Lead  is  very  rarely  found 
pure  in  nature,  never  in  considerable  quantities.  Pliny 
says  that  lead  was  discovered  by  Midas,  King  of  Phrygia, 
who  is  also  accredited  with  having  been  the  first  to  pro- 
cure tin  from  the  Cassiterides ; 2  but  as  lead  is  produced  in 
the  extraction  of  silver  from  some  of  its  more  common  and 
abundant  ores,  it  is  probable  that  its  discovery  was  coeval 
with  that  of  silver. 

Lead  received  many  names  in  antiquity.  It  was  known 
at  a  remote  period,  and  being  of  little  importance  and 
rarely  used,  it  was  probably  forgotten  by  those  who  found 
no  use  for  it,  and  received  a  new  name  upon  being  redis- 
covered and  utilized.  According  to  Pictet,  it  has  as  many 

1  Popular  account  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,  by  Sir  J.  Gardner  Wilkinson    - 
(London,  1874),  vol.  ii.  p.  147. 

2  Piiny,  book  viii.  chap.  Ivii. 


8  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

as  thirty  names  in  Sanskrit,  several  of  which  it  bears  in 
common  with  tin.  Tin  is  sometimes  called  in  Sanskrit 
"  kurupya,"  meaning  bad  silver,  while  one  of  the  names 
of  lead  is  "kuranga,"  or  bad  tin.  Another  name  for 
lead  noticed  by  the  same  author  is  "bahamala,"  from 
"  baha,"  much,  and  "  mala/'  dirt  or  filth,  whether  because 
lead  soils  the  hands  when  touched,  or  because  it  left  a 
heap  of  scales  after  fusion,  he  is  unable  to  say.1  In  India 
the  name  for  lead  is  "  mulva."  The  province  of  Malava 
is  said  to  have  received  its  name  because  it  furnished  much 
lead.  The  Greek  name  "  molybdos  "  was  probably  derived 
from  the  Indian  name ;  this  circumstance  has  led  some 
authors  to  maintain  that  the  knowledge  of  the  metal  came 
from  the  East.2  The  Persian  name  for  lead  is  "surb;" 
in  Arabic  it  is  "anuk;"  in  Hindostani,  "sisa;"  Kussian, 
"swinetz;"  Polish,  "olow;"  in  Spanish,  "plombo;"  in 
Italian,  "  piombo ;  "  in  Dutch,  "  loot "  or  "  lood  ;  "  German, 
"  blei ; "  in  French,  "  plomb ; "  Danish  and  Swedish,  "  lod ;  " 
in  Anglo  Saxon,  "  lead/' 

The  only  instance  of  the  occurrence  of  lead  in  the  ruins 
of  ancient  Egypt  mentioned  by  Wilkinson  is  its  use  in 
soldering.  The  date  of  the  oldest  specimen  observed  by 
that  author  is  pronounced  to  be  uncertain,  but  he  ascribes 
it  to  the  time  of  the  Pharaohs.3 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  silver  in  ancient  times,  as 
at  the  present  day,  was  largely  procured  from  argentiferous 
lead  ores.  The  method  of  separating  gold  and  silver  from 
other  metals,  and  of  refining  and  purifying  the  noble 
metals  by  the  use  of  lead,  are  referred  to  or  described  in 
the  Old  Testament,  and  by  Agatharchides,  Pliny,  and  other 

1  Les  Origines   Indo-Europeennes.     Adolph  Pictet.     Paris,  1859.     Lead  is 
not  mentioned  in  the  oldest  Sanskrit  book,  the  Rig  Veda,  but  it  is  spoken  of  in 
the  Artharva  Veda. 

2  The  Metallurgy  of  Silver  and  Lead,  by  Robt.  H.  Lainbora,  Ph.  D.  (Lon- 
don, 1874),  p.  16. 

8  Wilkinson,  vol.  ii.  p.  362. 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

ancient  writers.  As  lead  was  considered  of  little  value, 
or  indeed  but  the  dross  or  natural  impurity  of  the  ores  of 
silver,  the  refining  or  separation  of  the  silver  was  usually 
conducted  near  the  mines,  thus  saving  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation of  the  greater  part  of  the  ore,  and  that  portion 
which  was  of  little  or  no  value.  This  has  been  the  custom 
through  all  historic  times  when  the  mines  have  been 
situated  in  districts  at  all  inaccessible.  In  our  own  day, 
at  some  of  the  Mexican  mines  which  are  remote  from  rail- 
way or  other  means  of  cheap  transportation,  the  litharge, 
or  protoxide  of  lead,  one  of  the  products  of  refining  argen- 
tiferous lead  by  the  ancient  process  of  cupellation,  is  left 
in  heaps,  as  waste  or  refuse,  and  not  of  sufficient  value  to 
transport  on  the  backs  of  mules,  or  of  porters,  or  by  other 
crude  and  expensive  methods  to  market.  In  the  early 
days  of  mining  in  the  Eocky  Mountain  districts,  before 
the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  the  silver 
was  recovered  at  the  mines  by  cupellation,  and  the  lead, 
in  the  form  of  litharge,  was  cast  aside  and  accumulated  in 
great  piles,  the  silver  alone  being  able  to  bear  the  cost  of 
carriage.  Accumulations  of  litharge  have  been  found  near 
ancient  smelting-places  in  the  Ural  mountains,  in  Spain, 
in  Portugal,  and  at  other  seats  of  ancient  mining. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  history  of  lead  is  intimately 
connected  with  the  history  of  silver,  and  in  the  absence  of 
particular  accounts  and  descriptions  of  the  occurrence,  and 
of  the  mining  and  metallurgy  of  lead  in  early  times,  we 
are  obliged  to  examine  the  history  of  silver,  as  found  in 
the  works  of  ancient  writers. 

In  Egypt  gold  was  evidently  known  before  silver,  as 
at  first  silver  was  called  white  gold.  By  the  laws  of 
Menes  gold  was  worth  two  and  one  half  times  as  much 
as  silver,  thus  at  that  early  period  the  process  of  ex- 
tracting silver  from  its  ores,  and  its  purification,  must 
have  been  known,  and  consequently  the  substance  litharge, 


10  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

or  protoxide  of  lead.  Silver  was  used  in  very  early  times 
as  money.  The  Hebrew  word  "  kussuf,"  meaning  silver, 
was  also  used  to  signify  money,  as  the  French  word 
"  argent,"  signifies  both  silver  and  money  to-day.1  Glad- 
stone refers  to  a  passage  in  Homer  which  seems  to 
imply  that  silver  was  only  obtained  at  Alube,  in  Asia 
Minor.2 

The  Israelites  are  commanded  by  Moses  to  purify  the 
gold,  silver,  brass,  iron,  tin,  and  lead  taken  from  the 
Midianites,  by  passing  it  through  the  fire.3  This  passage 
contains  the  first  allusion  to  lead  found  in  the  Bible ;  but 
silver  is  mentioned  in  describing  the  wealth  of  Abraham, 
who  was  very  rich  in  cattle,  in  silver,  and  in  gold ; 4  and 
again  when  Abraham  agreed  with  Ephron  for  his  field,  and 
weighed  out  to  him  four  hundred  shekels  of  silver,  current 
money  with  the  merchants.5  Gold  and  silver,  therefore, 
were  used  as  money  in  the  time  of  Abraham,  and  it  is 
probable  that  lead  also  was  known,  and  that  the  art  of 
metallurgy  had  attained  considerable  perfection.  According 
to  Wilkinson,  gold  is  represented  on  the  ancient  Egyptian 
monuments  dating  from  the  fourth  dynasty,  and  he  says 
that  silver  was  probably  known  at  as  early  a  period.6 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  appearance  of  the  sun  above 
the  horizon  and  its  passage  across  the  celestial  arch  should 
have  created  a  profound  impression  upon  the  mind  of 
primitive  man ;  no  less  impressive,  perhaps,  was  the*  course 
of  the  moon  and  of  the  planets  among  the  stars,  and  we 
can  understand  the  feelings  which  prompted  the  mythol- 
ogies of  ancient  Egypt  and  of  other  primitive  nations. 

1  Wilkinson,  vol.  ii.  p.  147. 

2  Juventus  Mundi,  by  W.  E.  Gladstone  (London,  1870),  p.  532.     Silver  was 
much  more  common  in  Homer's  time  than  this  statement  would  lead  us  to  sup- 
pose ;  besides,  Strabo  commented  upon  the  passage  referred  to  by  Gladstone,  and 
altogether  discredits  the  existence  of  Alub6.     Strabo,  book  xiii.  chap.  i. 

8  Numbers,  v.  22,  23.  4  Genesis,  xiii.  2.  5  Ibid,  xxiii.  16. 

6  Wilkinson,  The  Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  ii.  p.  240. 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

The  Egyptians  gave  to  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets  the 
names  of  the  divinities  they  wished  to  distinguish;  the 
Greeks,  it  is  supposed,  adopted  these  Egyptian  names. 
The  American  aborigines  very  generally  venerated  and 
worshipped  the  nearer  celestial  bodies,  and  attributed  to 
them  an  animate  existence ;  each  tribe  had  its  special 
myths,  and  gave  names  to  such  heavenly  bodies  as  it  held 
most  in  veneration.  The  Chinese  recognized  five  elements, 
earth,  fire,  water,  wood,  and  metals.  To  these  they  gave 
the  names  of  the  five  planets  :  to  the  earth,  "  Saturn ; "  to 
wood,  "  Jupiter ;  "  to  fire,  "  Mars ; "  to  metals,  "  Venus ; " 
to  water,  "  Mercury.1  At  a  very  remote  period  there  was 
thought  to  be  a  connection  betwen  the  metals  and  the 
planets,  and  in  the  works  of  many  ancient  writers  the 
names  of  the  planets  are  applied  to  the  metals.  The 
alchemists  adopted  the  practice,  and  observed  the  following 
classification  :  to  gold,  they  gave  the  name  of  the  "  Sun ;" 
to  silver,  the  "  Moon ; "  to  tin,  "  Jupiter ;  "  to  iron,  "  Mars ;  " 
to  copper,  "Venus; "  to  mercury  or  quicksilver,  "  Mercury; " 
and  to  lead,  "  Saturn."  They  used  the  names  and  the  as- 
tronomical signs  of  the  planets,  in  their  writings,  to 
designate  the  metals. 

The  oldest  trace  of  the  division  of  the  metals  among 
the  gods  occurs  in  the  religious  worship  of  the  Persians. 
The  revolution  of  the  celestial  bodies  was  represented  by 
this  people  by  seven  stairs,  which  conducted  to  the  same 
number  of  gates ;  the  first  gate  was  of  lead,  the  second  of 
tin,  the  third  of  copper,  the  fourth  of  iron,  the  fifth  of  a 
mixed  metal,  the  sixth  of  silver,  and  the  seventh  of  gold ; 
the  leaden  gate  had  the  slow  tedious  motion  of  Saturn ; 
the  tin  gate  had  the  lustre  and  gentleness  of  Venus,  etc.2  A 
transposition  in  some  of  the  names  was  made  at  a  later 

1  De  Goguet,  vol.  ii.  p.  420. 

2  History  of  Inventions,  Discoveries,  and  Origins,  "by  John  Beckmann,  trans- 
lated by  William  Johnston  (London,  1883,  2  vols.),  vol.  i.  p.  25. 


12  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

period ;  but,  whatever  the  transposition,  ancient  writers 
agree  in  giving  to  lead  the  name  of  Saturn.  It  is  probable 
that  in  all  times  a  resemblance  has  been  traced  between 
the  dull,  cold-colored  metal  and  the  more  remote  and  slow- 
moving  planet.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  supposed 
connection  between  the  planets  and  the  metals  resulted 
from  the  fact  that  the  number  of  metals  known  in  early 
times  was  seven  (brass  was  sometimes  referred  to  as  a 
simple  metal),  —  the  sacred  number  of  the  Egyptians,  Per- 
sians, and  other  ancient  nations,  while  the  sun,  moon,  and 
the  five  planets  recognized  in  those  days,  also  made  the 
number  seven. 

Boerhaave  says  :  — 

"  Chemists  have  now  adapted  the  names  of  the  planets  to  the 
metals,  according  to  the  nature  of  their  bodies. 

"  &  Denotes  whatever  is  acrid  or  corrosive,  as  vinegar,  fire, 
etc.,  as  if  furnished  with  sharp  spikes. 

"  O  Something  perfect,  immutable,  most  simple,  as  gold, 
which  contains  nothing  acid. 

"  C  Half  gold,  whose  inside  turned  outside  makes  perfect 
gold,  without  anything  exotic  or  corrosive.  This  the  alchemists 
observe  of  silver. 

"  $  The  inward  part  to  be  pure  gold ;  but  the  color  of  silver 
above,  with  a  portion  of  acrid  and  corrosive  at  bottom.  This 
alchemists  have  observed  of  mercury. 

"  9  The  principal  part  to  be  gold ;  but  a  crude  and  corrosive 
acid  adheres  to  it,  which,  when  separated,  leaves  the  rest  with 
all  the  properties  of  pure  gold.  This  also  the  adepts  assert. 

"  $  Also  gold  within ;  but  a  considerable  portion  of  corrosive 
acid. 

"  If.  One  half  of  tin  is  silver,  and  the  other  a  crude  corrosive 
antimony. 

"J?  Almost  all  corrosive,  with  some  similitude  of  silver.  This 
hint  to  the  skilful  is  sufficient."  1 

1  Herman  Boerhaave,  M.D.,  Elements  of  Chemistry,  translated  by  a  gentle- 
man of  the  University  of  Oxford  (London,  1731),  vol.  i.  p.  24  et  seq. 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

A  writer  of  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century 
says  :  — 

"  Those  who  believe  the  stars  have  an  influence  over  sublunary 
things  attribute  the  formation  of  precious  stones  to  the  super- 
intendency  of  the  fixed  stars,  who  seem  to  imitate  them  not  only 
in  their  brightness  and  lustre,  but  in  the  purity  and  permanency 
of  their  substance ;  whereas  metals,  for  their  instability  and 
alteration  of  form,  being  sometimes  liquid,  at  other  times  solid, 
they  assign  to  the  particular  government  of  the  planets,  who, 
from  the  variety  of  their  motions,  are  called  wandering  stars." 1 

Lead  (or  Saturn,  as  they  termed  it)  was  one  of  the 
most  important  elements  in  the  experiments  of  the  al- 
chemists. Its  high  specific  gravity  and  its  low  melting 
point  constantly  enticed  them  to  attempt  its  conversion 
into  the  substance  which  should  transmute  the  baser  met- 
als into  gold.2  They  considered  it  to  be  the  oldest  of  the 
metals,  and  so  named  it  Saturn,  in  honor  of  the  oldest, 
and  consequently  the  father  of  the  gods.  In  the  process 
of  cupellation,  or  refining  the  noble  metals,  lead,  if  not 
already  present  in  the  alloy,  is  added,  and  in  the  operation 
is  said  to  liquify  other  base  metals  which  may  be  present, 
and,  as  the  ancients  believed,  to  consume  and  destroy 
them,  as  Saturn  in  fabulous  history  is  said  to  have  de- 
voured his  own  children.  Boerhaave  says  :  "As  Saturn,  in 
all  ancient  mythologies,  is  considered  to  be  the  father  of 
the  gods,  so  lead  is  the  father  of  the  metals,  and  at  the 
same  time  is  their  destroyer." 3  The  alchemists  and  the 
earlier  writers  on  chemistry  unite  in  ascribing  to  lead 
a  heavy,  cold,  and  sometimes  wholly  repulsive  nature. 
Bacon  says  lead  is  cold  and  dry.4  Encelius  describes 

1  First  Book  of  the  Art  of  Metals,  by  A.  Barba,  translated  by  the  Earl  of 
Sandwich  (in  a  collection  of  scarce  and  valuable  treatises  upon  metals,  London, 
1733),  p.  60. 

2  Geschichte  der  MetaUe,  by  Dr.  F.  X.  M.  Zippe  (Wien,  1857),  p.  197. 

3  Boerhaave,  Elements  of  Chemistry,  vol.  i.  p.  24. 

4  Fr.  Roger  Bacon,  Opera  Inedita,  edited  by  J.  S.  Brewer  (London,  1859), 
p.  380. 


14  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

lead,  or  Satumis,  as  the  cold  son  of  sulphur  and  quick- 
silver,1 while  Le  Febvre  declares  that  "  lead  is  called  Sat- 
urn by  reason  of  its  sympathy  with  that  planet,  as  also 
its  relation  to  the  spleen,  which  is  called  the  Saturn  of 
the  microcosm,  to  which  it  is  dedicated."  2 

However  absurd  the  experiments  and  the  opinions  of 
the  alchemists  may  appear  when  viewed  in  the  light  of 
modern  science,  we  are  indebted  to  their  researches  for 
the  establishment  of  the  science  of  chemistry  upon  a  sub- 
stantial basis,  as  their  attempts  to  find  the  elixir  of  life 
and  the  philosophers*  stone  led  to  a  more  complete  knowl- 
edge of  the  chemical  elements.3 

The  Greek  poets  used  the  term  i;  Saturnian  "  to  describe 
coldness,  and  represent  Saturn  as  an  old  man  and  slow  in 
his  motions.  More  modern  poets  constantly  use  the  figure 
lead  to  describe  coldness,  slowness  of  motion,  etc. :  — 

"  If  thoa  dost  find  him  tractable  to  us, 

"RiM^nmragp  hinry  and  tell  inm  all  OUT  reasons  J 

If  he  be  leaden,  icy  cold,  unwilling, 
Be  thoa  so  too." 

RICHAKD  HL,  ACT  m^  Scene  1. 

1  Christophers  Encelio,  De  Be  Metellica  (Frankfort,  1557). 

2  A  Compendious  Body  of  Chemistry,  by  X.  Le  Febrre,  Royal  Professor  in 
Chymistry  to  His  Majesty  of  England,  and  Apothecary  to  His  Honorable  House- 
hold.    Rendered  into  English  by  P.  D.  C.  Esqr.,  one  of  His  Majesty's  Privy 
Chamber  (London,  2  vols^  1664),  roL  iL  p,  153. 

*  Zippe,  Geschkhte  der  Metalle,  p.  197. 


CHAPTER    IL 

THE   T.KAD   MDTES   OF   AXTIQUTTY. 

TN  ancient  times  Egypt  possessed  great  stores  of  the 
-*•  precious  metals,  obtained  partly  from  her  own  mines 
and  partly  received  as  tribute  from  conquered  nations. 
Early  writers  refer  to  the  gold  mines  of  Nubia  and  Ethi- 
opia, but  fail  to  mention  the  location  of  the  mines  from 
which  Egypt  procured  her  silver.  Lead  and  iron  mines 
were  exploited  in  the  desert  near  the  Eed  Sea ; l  the  lead 
mines  yielded  an  argentiferous  ore,  from  which  the  silver 
was  recovered,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  supply  of  silver 
was  principally  obtained  from  the  conquered  nations  who 
paid  tribute  in  this  metal. 

The  tributes  paid  to  Thotmes  TTT.  by  Asiatic  peoples 
and  by  Southern  Ethiopians  consisted  principally  of  gold ; 
the  Assyrians,  however,  in  addition  to  gold,  paid  tribute 
in  silver  in  the  form  of  rings,  and  in  copper  and  lead  cast 
in  the  shape  of  bricks,  or  pigs,  to  use  the  modern  term ; 
sometimes  they  brought  the  ore  itself.  The  mountains  of 
Assyria  abounded  in  iron,  copper,  silver,  and  lead.2 

There  is  little  to  be  said  of  lead  at  the  time  of  the 
ancient  Egyptians;  it  was  undoubtedly  known  to  them, 
as  was  its  protoxide,  litharge,  —  a  by-product  in  the  re- 
covery of  silver  from  argentiferous  lead  ore;  and  the 

1  Wilkinson,  voL  ii  p.  239. 

*  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  b j  JL  H.  Lajaid,  D.C.L.  (Xew  York,  1849, 
2  vols,),  Tol.  ii.  p.  316. 


16  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

only  evidence  discovered  of  its  use  was  in  soldering  and 
in  the  glazing  of  pottery.1 

Ruins  of  old  mining  stations  can  still  be  traced  at 
Kohel,  near  the  Red  Sea,  and  at  Jabal  Rossas,  literally 
"the  mountain  of  lead,"  where  mines  were  exploited  by 
the  ancients.  Vestiges  of  ancient  silver  and  other  mines 
have  been  found  in  the  country  of  the  Bejahs,  between 
Eidub  and  Suakin.  The  Pharaohs  made  war  against  the 
predecessors  of  this  people  —  the  ancient  Blemmies  —  for 
the  possession  of  these  mines.2 

The  ores  of  lead  are  widely  distributed  over  Asia. 
Traces  of  ancient  mining  have  been  found  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Waisti-Karu,  near  the  Oxus.  The  greater  part 
of  the  silver  in  Persia  came  from  the  mines  of  Bucharia 
and  Aderbijan.  Bactriana  anciently  possessed  silver  mines 
of  great  depth,  and  the  Chalybeans,  referred  to  by  Homer, 
says  Heeren,  were  at  all  times  engaged  in  mining ;  some 
of  their  silver  mines  were  worked  in  the  time  of  Xen- 
ophon,  though  they  were  then  thought  to  be  nearly 
exhausted.3 

Lead  ores  are  found  at  Oinan  and  Ras-al-Had  and 
other  parts  of  Arabia ;  valuable  mines  occur  in  many 
parts  of  the  Burmese  Empire,  and  in  the  mountains  of 
Baluchistan.  In  Armenia  and  Chaldea  silver  lead  mines 
were  worked  by  the  ancients,  and,  according  to  Leger, 
silver  was  so  abundant  in  ancient  times  in  China,  India, 
Persia,  Judea,  and  Phoenicia,  that  it  was  used  for  weap- 
ons, and  in  some  cases  even  for  agricultural  implements.4 
Silver  mines  were  worked  in  the  Caucasus  in  remote  an- 
tiquity ;  mines  of  argentiferous  lead  ore  were  worked  in 

1  See  Wilkinson,  vol.  ii.  p.  162;  also  Ancient  Workers  and  Artificers  in 
Metal,  by  James  Napier  (London,  1856),  p.  128. 

2  Heeren,  Ancient  Nations  of  Africa,  vol.  ii.  p.  333. 

8  Heeren,  Historical  Eesearches  (Oxford,  1833),  vol.  i.  p.  49. 
4  Les  Travaux  Publics  les  Mines  et  la  Metallurgie  aux  Temps  des  Remains, 
etc.,  par  Alfred  Leger  (Paris,  1875),  p.  713. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  ANTIQUITY.  17 

Siberia,  near  the  southern  border  of  the  Ural  Mountains, 
as  early  as  150  B.  c.,  as  at  that  time  the  country  was 
conquered  by  the  Tartars,  who  were  acquainted  with  the 
use  of  iron ;  the  old  miners  used  sledges  and  hammers  of 
stone,  and  the  teeth  of  wild  animals  fastened  to  a  stick, 
for  excavating  shafts,  which,  in  some  cases,  were  more 
than  a  hundred  feet  in  depth.  The  ore  was  treated  at  the 
mines,  and  the  silver  recovered,  while  the  litharge  was 
abandoned  as  valueless.1  Lead  occurs  in  Kurdistan ;  and 
Marco  Polo  refers  to  many  lead  and  silver  mines  noticed 
by  him  in  Asia,  the  most  remarkable  being  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Beyert,  and  in  going  from  Trebizond  to  Tauris. 
He  also  mentions  lead  mines  in  Badashan,  and  in  Northern 
China.2 

Modern  explorers  have  found  vestiges  of  ancient  exploit- 
ation of  lead  mines  in  Africa,  particularly  in  Tunis  and 
Algeria,  where  the  ores  occur  in  some  abundance. 

The  Phoenicians  were  noted  for  their  skill  in  excavating 
and  mining,  and  this  enterprising  people,  in  very  early 
times,  scoured  the  countries  bordering  upon  the  Mediterra- 
nean in  search  of  metals,  founding  colonies  on  every  coast 
and  island  favorable  for  mining  and  trading.  They 
worked  lead  mines  in  Cyprus,  and  in  many  islands  of  the 
Aegean  Sea.  Herodotus,  referring  to  their  mining  opera- 
tions in  Thasos,  says  :  "  A  huge  mountain  has  been  turned 
upside  down  in  search  for  ores."  3 

The  earliest  mining  in  Greece  of  which  we  have  records 
was  at  Laurium. 4  These  mines  were  famous  in  ancient 

1  Histoire  Genealogique  des   Tartares,  quoted  by  Phillips  and  Darlington, 
Records  of  Mining  and  Metallurgy  (London,  1857),  p.  16 ;  also  Heeren,  His- 
torical Researches,  vol.  i.  pp.  42,  47. 

2  The  Book  of    Marco  Polo,  translated  by  Yule  (London,  1871,  2  vols.), 
vol.  i.  p.  45. 

8  Geo.  Rawlinson,  The  History  of  Herodotus  (New  York,  1872,  4  vols.), 
vol.  iii.  p.  367. 

4  Pausanias,  Description  of  Greece,  translated  by  Arthur  R.  Shilletto  (Lon- 
don, 1886),  vol.  i.  p.  1. 

2 


18  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

times  for  their  deposits  of  argentiferous  lead  ores,  which 
are  said  to  have  supplied  ancient  Greece  with  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  her  revenues.  Leger  thinks  they  were 
worked  as  early  as  the  Trojan  war,  and  perhaps  before, 
supplying  foundries  at  Thonea,  Cypriano,  and  at  other 
places.1  It  is  said  that  twenty  thousand  slaves  were  once 
employed  in  them.  They  were  thought  to  be  exhausted 
at  the  beginning  of  our  era,  as  Diodorus  says  of  them : 
"  They  that  search  there  for  ores  are  at  great  cost  and 
charge,  and  besides  are  often  frustrated  of  their  hopes, 
and  sometimes  lose  what  they  have  found."  2  These  mines 
were  reopened  in  1863  by  a  French  company,  and  have 
been  worked  continuously  since  that  time,  the  ore  and  base 
bullion  being  sent  to  France  for  treatment.  The  old  slag 
and  scoriae  left  by  the  ancient  miners  have  been  reworked 
by  a  French  and  a  Greek  company,  and  have  yielded  rich 
results.  The  mines  at  Damastium,  in  Epirus,  and  those 
near  Paeonia,  were  opened  about  the  time  of  the  Persian 
war,  and  continued  to  be  worked  in  Strabo's  time.3 

There  is  little  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  ancient 
writers  concerning  mining  in  Greece  in  early  times.  The 
reigning  princes,  Jacob  thinks,  were  the  chief  owners  of 
the  mines  ;  the  condition  of  society  at  that  period  was  such 
as  would  make  it  impossible  to  carry  on  these  works  ex- 
cept by  the  employment  of  slaves,  whose  numbers  were 
the  standard  by  which  the  wealth  of  the  chiefs  was 
estimated.  Later,  the  mines  were  the  property  of  the 
community,  and  were  leased  to  private  individuals.4 

The  ancient  miners  probably  smelted  only  the  ore  found 
near  the  surface,  and  their  methods  of  refining  were  con- 

1  Leger,  Les  Travanx  Publics,  etc.,  p.  702. 

2  The  Historical  Library  of  Diodorus  the  Sicilian,  translated  by  G.  Booth 
(London,  1814,  2  vols.),  vol.  i.  p.  319. 

8  Strabo's  Geography,  book  viii.  chap.  vii. 

4  Wm.  Jacob,  F.E.S.,  An  Historical  Inquiry  into  the  Production  and  Con- 
sumption of  the  Precious  Metals  (London,  1831,  2  vols.),  vol.  i.  p.  71. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF   ANTIQUITY.  19 

sidered  crude  as  early  as  Strabo's  time,  who  informs  us 
that  they  were  unable  to  properly  separate  the  silver  from 
the  lead,  and  that  those  who  came  after  them  reworked 
the  refuse  with  profit.1 

There  was  very  little  mining  in  Italy  in  ancient  times  ; 
minerals  occurred  in  many  districts,  but  in  very  early 
days  the  exploitation  of  mines  was  prohibited  by  a  decree 
of  the  Senate,  —  "  but  whether,"  Pliny  says,  "  to  keep  the 
treasure  in  reserve,  or  to  prevent  an  indignity  to  her  soil, 
does  not  appear."  2  At  a  later  time  another  edict  prohib- 
ited the  employment  of  more  than  three  thousand  miners  in 
the  mines  of  Irtimule,  near  Vercellae.  The  Romans  pushed 
mining  operations  in  all  conquered  countries  with  great 
vigor ;  but  they  seem  to  have  exhibited  a  desire  to  reserve 
the  mineral  wealth  of  their  own  country.  Mines  of  lead 
and  silver  exist  in  the  Italian  Alps,  and  in  Piedmont,  which 
were  worked  in  ancient  times  and  in  the  middle  ages. 

Sardinia  was  the  seat  of  extensive  mining  operations  in 
very  early  times.  Her  mines  were  first  worked  by  the 
Phoenicians,  then  by  the  Carthaginians,  and  afterwards  by 
the  Romans.  Modern  travellers  have  discovered  the  ruins 
of  many  ancient  foundries  and  furnaces,  and  vestiges  of 
excavations  of  vast  extent.  Among  many  relics  of  an- 
cient works  found  in  Sardinia  in  modern  times  is  a  pig  of 
lead,  weighing  about  seventy  pounds,  and  inscribed  with 
the  name  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian. 

Vestiges  of  ancient  lead  mining  have  been  discovered 
in  Sicily.  An  old  mine  on  the  ancient  Cape  Peloris  was 
reopened  in  1747,  but  abandoned  a  few  years  later.3 

Ancient  writers  tell  us  that  it  was  the  mineral  wealth  of 
the  Iberians  which  excited  the  cupidity  of  the  Phoenicians, 
and  led  to  the  subjugation  and  settlement  of  Spain  by 

1  Strabo's  Geography,  book  ix.  chap.  i. 

2  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  iii.  chap.  xxv.  and  note. 

8  See  C.  J.  B.  Karsten,  System  der  Metallurgie,  Berlin,  1831. 


20  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

that  wonderful  people.  Soon  after  the  founding  of  Gades 
settlements  were  made  by  the  Phoenicians  at  other  places, 
notably  Malacca,  the  modern  Malaga,  Carteia,  and  Hispa- 
lis,  the  modern  Seville ;  until  within  a  comparatively  short 
period  they  had  planted  more  than  two  hundred  colonies, 
and  in  the  sixth  century  B.  c.  had  complete  possession  of 
the  country*  The  original  inhabitants  were  soon  subdued, 
and  forced  to  work  in  the  mines  under  such  harsh  and 
cruel  treatment,  Diodorus  tells  us,  "  that  they  died  in  the 
caverns  they  had  themselves  dug."  *  The  Carthaginians 
were  famous  freebooters  and  slave-traders,  and  making 
incursions  into  Africa  took  great  numbers  of  captives  to 
replace  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  who  had  been  destroyed 
by  the  great  hardships  imposed  upon  them.  The  almost 
fabulous  amounts  of  silver  carried  in  triumphal  processions 
in  Kome,  by  the  conquerors  of  Spain,  attest  the  richness 
of  the  mines,  and  the  great  extent  of  their  exploitation 
by  the  Carthaginians.2 

It  is  probable  that  the  first  mining  occurred  at  the  foot 
of  the  Sierra  Morena,  and  near  the  banks  of  the  Gua- 
dalquivir, by  which  the  products  could  be  conveyed  to 
Hispalis.  Argentiferous  lead  ores  were  mined  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Cartagena,  at  Ilipa,  Sisapon,  Barcelona, 
Almeria,  Castellon,  and  in  Lusitania.3  Ancient  writers 
refer  in  extravagant  terms  to  the  mineral  wealth  of 
Spain.  Strabo  says,  "  A  chain  of  mountains  running 
parallel  to  the  Guadalquivir  is  rich  in  metals ; "  and  again, 
"  The  whole  country  of  the  Iberians  is  full  of  minerals."  * 
According  to  Diodorus,  "  those  that  worked  the  mines  of 
Iberia  were  greatly  enriched,  for  they  succeeded  at  the 
very  first,  the  whole  soil  being  interlaced  with  metals."  5 

1  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  321.  2  See  Livy's  History  of  Rome. 

8  Jacob,  The  Precious  Metals,  vol.  i.  p.  95  ;  also  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics, 
p.  698. 

4  Strabo's  Geography,  book  iii.  chap.  ii.  6  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  319. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  ANTIQUITY.  21 

Pliny  frequently  refers  to  the  great  mineral  wealth  of 
Spain,  and  regards  it  as  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  mines 
opened  by  Hannibal  should  still  be  worked.  He  says : 
"  Where  one  vein  of  mineral  occurs  a  second  is  sure  to  be 
found  near  it,  — -  a  circumstance  which  suggested  the  name 
'  metals/  from  the  Greek  word  '  metalla,'  signifying  '  one 
after  another.'  "  l  Strabo,  quoting  Polybius,  says  that  the 
silver  mines  of  New  Carthage  were  very  large,  and  that 
forty  thousand  men  were  constantly  employed  there.  He 
also  informs  us  that  at  Castellon,  and  at  other  places,  lead 
mines  were  worked  the  ore  of  which  carried  so  little  silver 
that  the  separation  of  it  was  unprofitable.2 

The  numerous  vestiges  of  ancient  mining  found  in  the 
mountains  of  Northern  and  Central  Asia,  in  Europe,  and  in 
Africa,  make  it  apparent  that  the  search  for  metals  was 
pursued  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  the  scattered  and 
fragmentary  mention  of  it  by  ancient  writers  indicate. 
The  Egyptians,  Phoenicians,  Persians,  and  other  ancient 
nations  possessed  vast  stores  of  the  precious  metals,  and 
used  them  in  great  quantities  in  the  decoration  of  their 
persons,  their  garments,  their  furniture,  and  the  housings 
of  their  horses  and  their  equipages.  The  same  greed  for 
the  possession  of  gold  and  silver  obtained  in  ancient  times 
as  prevails  to-day.  Lead  is  very  rarely  referred  to  in 
ancient  writings,  but  the  amount  of  silver  in  existence 
makes  it  evident  that  lead  was  produced  in  large  quanti- 
ties, principally  as  a  secondary  product  in  the  extraction 
of  silver  from  its  ores,  and  in  amount  far  beyond  the  needs 
of  the  times.  It  was  regarded  as  of  little  value,  but  not- 
withstanding the  evidences  of  its  economic  employment 
are  meagre  in  the  extreme,  there  can  scarcely  be  a 
doubt  of  its  general  and  extensive  use.  Its  increased 
value  in  modern  times  is  the  result  of  a  more  general 

1  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiii.  chap.  xxxi. 

2  Strabo's  Geography,  book  iii.  chap.  ii. 


22  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

employment,  demanded  by  the  needs  of  a  more  refined 
civilization. 

Intercourse  and  trade  in  remote  antiquity  were  quite 
extensive.  The  Egyptians  traded  with  Ethiopia  for  gold, 
ivory,  and  slaves ;  with  Arabia  for  incense ;  with  India  for 
spices ;  with  Greece  and  Phoenicia  for  wine ;  and  with  Af- 
rican nations  for  salt.  The  Chaldeans,  Assyrians,  and 
Babylonians  had  an  extensive  trade  with  other  Asiatic 
nations  and  with  India.  The  Phoenicians,  the  great 
merchants  of  antiquity,  had  control  of  the  trade  of  the 
Mediterranean,  of  the  countries  of  Africa  bordering  upon 
the  Atlantic,  of  Lusitania,  of  Gaul,  of  Britain,  and  it  is 
claimed  that  they  traded  for  amber  with  the  countries 
on  the  Baltic.  The  land  trade  of  the  Phoenicians  was 
through  Arabia,  the  great  seat  of  their  caravan  trade,  by 
which  they  made  their  exchanges  with  India ;  while  in  the 
south  they  penetrated  to  Ethiopia  and  Central  Africa.1 
Through  this  intercourse  and  trade,  considerable  as  they 
undoubtedly  were,  the  metals  were  distributed  among  the 
early  nations.  The  gold  of  Ethiopia  found  its  way  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Asia;  the  silver  of  Siberia  was  common 
among  the  treasures  of  the  Assyrians ;  the  tin  of  India, 
and  of  far-away  Britain,  was  combined  with  the  copper  of 
Cyprus  to  form  the  bronze  of  the  Egyptian ;  and  the  lead 
mined  by  the  ancient  Briton  was  exchanged  with  the 
Phoenician  merchants  for  the  manufactures  of  the  Asiatic 
and  African  nations. 

The  enormous  booty  acquired  by  the  Romans  in  their 
victories  over  the  Carthaginians  directed  their  attention 
to  one  of  the  sources  of  the  wealth  of  that  nation,  the 
mines  in  Iberia.  After  the  fall  of  Carthage  they  prose- 
cuted mining  operations  in  Spain  with  great  vigor.  The 

1  Heeren,  Historical  Researches,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  48;  vol.  iii.  p.  111.  Heeren 
also  directs  attention  to  the  account  of  the  trade  of  the  Phoenicians  described  in 
Ezekiel  xxvii. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  ANTIQUITY.          23 

inhabitants  were  expert  in  mining  and  metallurgy,  and 
were  forced  by  the  Romans  to  build  their  fortifications  and 
to  work  their  mines.  They  founded  a  city  in  the  Asturias, 
and  called  it  Argentiola,  on  account  of  the  vast  treasure 
of  silver  produced  there.  They  mined  lead  at  Cartagena, 
Castellon,  Barcelona,  and  at  many  other  places. 

Some  archaeologists  insist  that  the  Phoenicians  and 
Gauls,  before  the  conquest  of  France  by  the  Romans,  ex- 
ploited the  argentiferous  lead  mines  of  that  country.  This 
statement  has  support  in  the  fact  that  in  some  cases  the 
galleries  of  ancient  mines  were  used  by  the  Romans  as 
sepulchres.  Evidences  of  mining  operations  in  France, 
during  Roman  occupation,  are  numerous.  An  iron  pick, 
evidently  of  Roman  manufacture,  has  been  found  in  an 
ancient  gallery  of  a  lead  mine  near  Villefranche,  Aveyron. 
The  find  of  Roman  and  Gallic  pottery  and  Roman  coins 
in  a  mine  in  Valence,  is  thought  to  prove  that  this  mine 
was  worked  not  only  by  the  Romans,  but  by  the  Gauls 
previous  to  the  conquest.1  In  a  mine  100  feet  deep,  at 
Pontigibaud,  Roman  lamps  have  been  found;  in  Savoy 
the  galleries  of  an  ancient  mine  bear  Roman  numerals. 
Pigs  of  lead  bearing  the  names  of  Roman  emperors  have 
been  found  at  Evreux,  Lillebourne,  and  at  other  places 
in  France,  and  have  been  regarded  as  additional  evi- 
dence of  Roman  exploitation  of  the  lead  deposits  of  that 
country,2  but  the  Abbe  Cochet  inclined  to  the  belief  that 
this  lead  was  really  the  production  of  British  mines ;  and 
he  wras  supported  in  this  view  by  an  eminent  authority 
who  construed  a  partially  obliterated  inscription  upon  one 
of  the  pigs  into  the  name  of  the  British  smelter;  the 
Abbe  also  believed  the  Romans  obtained  all  their  supplies 

1  See  Apergu  Historique  sur  I'Exploitation  des  Mines  dans  la  Gaule,  etc., 
par  A.  Daubree. 

2  See  Daubree,  Apergu  Historique,  etc. ;  also  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics, 
etc.,  p.  715. 


26  A  HISTORY  OF   LEAD. 

chariots,  as  the  old  Grecian  heroes  are  said  to  have  done  in 
the  Trojan  war.1 

Tylor  directs  attention  to  the  law  that  metallurgical  dis- 
coveries are  made  in  districts  where  this  art  is  practised, 
and  says  that  the  working  of  lead  can  scarcely  be  an  ex- 
ception ;  hence  he  concludes  that  the  ancient  Britons  had 
considerable  knowledge  of  the  science  of  metallurgy.  He 
also  refers  to  the  complete  establishment  of  the  tin  in- 
dustry at  that  remote  period,  and  infers  that  the  ancient 
Britons  were  also  smelters  of  lead.  He  directs  attention 
to  the  similarity  in  construction  and  design  between  the 
leaden  mortuary  and  other  relics  found  in  England,  Italy, 
France,  and  even  in  Sidon,  and  thinks  this  indicates  a 
common  origin ;  a  further  proof  is  offered  in  the  fact  that 
works  in  lead  and  bronze  have  frequently  been  found  on 
the  continent,  as  well  as  in  England,  bearing  the  names  of 
British  makers.  Upon  a  leaden  coffin  discovered  near 
Peterborough,  England,  and  on  a  piece  of  lead  pipe  found 
near  Lyons  in  France  may  be  traced  the  names  of  the 
British  manufacturers.  This  author  concludes  that  the 
smelting  and  working  of  lead  is  an  ancient  British  in- 
dustry ;  that  the  Kornan  occupation  was  chiefly  for  the 
development  of  these  arts  to  supply  other  Roman  prov- 
inces; and  that  York  —  probably  an  old  British  city  — 
was  chosen  as  the  northern  capital  on  account  of  its 

voyage  he  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Garonne,  found  a  road  across  Gaul,  and 
reached  Massilia  in  about  a  year  from  the  date  of  his  departure.  Pytheas'  ac- 
count of  his  discoveries  was  violently  attacked  in  ancient  times  "by  Strabo  and 
Polybius.  Sir  George  Lewis  accepts  the  views  of  these  old  writers,  in  part  at 
least,  but  other  modern  writers  accord  to  Pytheas  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
navigator  of  northern  British  seas.  The  doubts  thrown  upon  the  narrative  of 
Pytheas  relate  principally  to  his  claim  of  having  reached  a  high  northern  latitude  ; 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  he  landed  in  Britain.  See  Strabo's  Geogra- 
phy, book  ii.  chap.  iv.  ;  Rhys,  Celtic  Britain  ;  Historical  Survey  of  the  Astronomy 
of  the  Ancients,  by  Sir  Geo.  C.  Lewis,  p.  46;  Early  Man  in  Britain,  by  W. 
Boyd  Dawkins,  p.  478  ;  Lubbock,  Prehistoric  Times,  p.  63. 
1  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  310. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  ANTIQUITY.         27 

proximity  to  the  lead  mines  of  Alston-Moor  and  southern 
Yorkshire.1 

The  lead  deposits  of  Great  Britain  were  exploited  during 
the  occupation  of  the  country  by  the  Romans  with  great 
vigor.  In  nearly  every  district  where  lead  has  been  found 
in  modern  times  there  may  still  be  traced  ruins  of  old 
camps  and  fortified  places,  situated  generally  in  close  prox- 
imity to  ancient  shafts  and  galleries,  and  surrounded  by 
great  heaps  of  scoriae  and  slag.  In  modern  times  exami- 
nation of  these  piles  of  rubbish  has  disclosed  Roman  coins, 
tools,  and  implements  of  wood  and  of  iron ;  knives,  pottery, 
ivory  and  leaden  spoons,  and  other  articles  for  domestic 
use ;  brooches  and  metallic  ornaments  for  personal  adorn- 
ment, besides  other  proofs  in  great  variety  and  abundance 
of  a  long  and  uninterrupted  occupation. 

The  metallic  wealth  of  Great  Britain  was  well  known  in 
the  early  days  of  our  era,  at  which  period  it  is  probable 
the  surface  ores  of  Spain  were  exhausted.  Pliny  says: 
"  Lead  is  extracted  with  great  labor  in  Spain  and  through- 
out all  the  Gallic  provinces,  but  in  Britannia  it  is  found  in 
the  upper  stratum  of  the  earth  in  such  abundance  that  a 
law  has  been  made  prohibiting  any  one  from  working  more 
than  a  certain  quantity  of  it."2 

The  Romans  began  exploiting  the  lead  mines  soon  after 
the  conquest.  Hunt,  in  his  exhaustive  work  on  "British 
Mining,"  describes  in  great  detail  the  principal  sources  of 
supply,  and  the  evidences  of  the  working  of  British  lead 
mines  by  the  Romans.  Ancient  works  have  been  traced  in 
Northumberland  and  in  Cumberland ;  there  are  vestiges 
of  extensive  mining  in  Yorkshire ;  in  all  parts  of  Derby- 
shire old  waste  heaps  have  been  found  consisting  of  slag, 
ashes,  and  bits  of  unconverted  galena,  from  which  modern 

1  Archaeologia,  vol.  xlviii.  (London,  1884),  article  by  Alfred  Tylor,  p.  221 
et  seq. 

2  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiv.  chap.  xlix. 


28  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

smelters  have  obtained,  by  reworking,  great  quantities  of 
lead ;  in  Shropshire,  Hunt  says :  "  The  Roman  miners  cut 
the  mountain  in  their  search  for  ore  in  deep  grooves  from 
top  to  bottom,  filling  up  old  excavations  with  the  debris 
from  the  new."  More  than  one  district  has  been  suggested 
as  being  the  locality  referred  to  by  Pliny,  where  he  speaks 
of  the  great  quantities  of  lead  in  Britain.1  The  Mendipp 
Hills  bear  traces  of  many  ancient  workings,  and  the  slags 
left  by  the  Romans  have  furnished  material  for  modern 
smelting  for  many  years. 

According  to  Pennant  the  town  of  Flint,  in  "Wales,  was 
once  a  Roman  station.  Roman  coins,  old  instruments,  and 
other  antiquities  found  in  the  neighborhood,  attest  the 
fact ;  great  heaps  of  scoriae,  containing  bits  of  lead  ore  and 
fragments  of  melted  lead,  picks  of  extraordinary  size,  and 
buckets  of  singular  construction,  have  been  found  in  this 
and  the  neighboring  parish  of  Northop,  especially  at  "  Pen- 
tre  Ffwrn-Dan,"  a  name  it  has  always  been  known  by,  and 
meaning  "the  place  of  the  fiery  furnace."  These,  Pennant 
thought,  are  conclusive  proofs  of  the  antiquity  of  smelting 
in  that  district.2  The  tin  deposits  of  Devon  and  Cornwall 
had  been  worked  by  the  Britons  for  centuries  before  the 
conquest,  and  were  undoubtedly  exploited  by  the  Romans, 
who  at  first  employed  the  conquered  inhabitants  in  these, 
as  well  as  in  their  lead  mines,  guarded  and  directed  by 
Roman  soldiers.  The  mines  of  Britain  were  probably 
worked  for  the  emperors,  as  was  the  case  in  other  conquered 
provinces. 

British  authors  refer  to  many  seats  of  Roman  mining  in 
England  and  Wales ;  and  it  is  evident  that  the  mining  of 

1  British  Mining,  Robert  Hunt,  F.R.S.  (London,  1884),  p.  27  et  seq.     See  also 
Britain,  or  a  Chorographical  Description  of  the  most  Flourishing   Kingdoms, 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.     Written  first  in  Latin  by  William  Camden, 
Clarenceaux  King  of  Arms  ;  translated  newly  into  English  by  Philemon  Holland, 
Doctor  in  Physick,  etc.  (London,  1610),  p.  556. 

2  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  53. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF   ANTIQUITY.  29 

lead  with  the  accompanying  operations  connected  with  the 
smelting  of  the  ore  and  the  separation  of  the  metals  was 
conducted  on  an  extensive  scale  for  a  very  long  period.  The 
tribute  paid  by  Britain  to  the  Roman  empire  consisted 
principally  of  lead. 

There  is  no  written  history  of  this  period  of  commercial 
prosperity  in  Great  Britain,  but  the  enormous  extent  of  the 
debris  left  by  the  ancient  miners  justifies  the  belief  that 
these  operations  extended  over  at  least  three  centuries ;  it  is 
probable,  however,  that  mining  operations  were  abandoned 
before  the  dismemberment  of  the  empire. 

Within  the  past  century  many  pigs  of  ancient  Roman 
lead  have  been  found  in  England,  and  are  preserved  in  the 
museums  at  London,  York,  and  elsewhere ;  these  pigs 
generally  bear  Roman  inscriptions,  sometimes  referring  to 
the  mine  from  which  the  ore  was  procured,  and  usually  to 
the  period  in  which  they  were  smelted,  indicated  by  the 
name  or  the  initial  of  the  reigning  Roman  emperor.  In 
1783  a  pig  of  lead  was  found  in  Hampshire,  bearing  the 
following  inscription,  NERONIS,  AUG.  EX.  KIAN,  mi, 
COS.  BRIT.,  implying  that  the  lead  was  taken  from  the 
mines  of  the  Kiangi  (Welsh)  in  the  fourth  consulate  of  the 
Emperor  Nero,  about  A.  D.  60.  On  the  reverse  side  was  the 
following,  — EX  ARGENT.,  meaning  "free  from  silver," 
indicating  that  the  lead  had  been  subjected  to  a  metallurgi- 
cal process  to  separate  and  remove  the  silver.  Other  pigs 
of  Roman  lead  found  in  England  bear  the  names  of  Brit- 
annicus,  Claudius,  Nero,  Domitian,  Hadrian,  Antoninus,  and 
Verus,  reigning  from  A.  D.  41  to  169.1 

A  writer  in  "  Archseologia  "  describes  at  great  length  sev- 
eral pigs  of  Roman  lead  found  in  England,  upon  one  of  which, 

1  Hunt,  British  Mining,  p.  25.  See  also  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  by  John 
Percy,  M.D.,  F.R.S.  (London,  1870),  p.  214;  Pennant,  vol.  i.  pp.  51,  59; 
Archseologia,  vol.  vii.  ;  John  Phillips,  Kivers,  Mountains,  and  Sea  Coast  of 
Yorkshire  (London,  1855),  p.  71 ;  Arch.  Journal  British  Archaeological  Associ- 
ation, vol.  xxiii. 


30  A   HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

found  near  an  ancient  smelting-place  in  Somersetshire,  is 
the  following  inscription:  LUCII,  ARYCONI,  YERECYDI, 
METALLICI,  LYDDINENSIS,  or,  « the  property  of  Lucius 
Aruconius  Yerecundus,  lead  merchant,  of  London."  This 
pig  of  lead,  although  of  undoubted  Roman  origin,  bore  no 
mark  by  which  the  date  of  its  production  could  be  deter- 
mined. Yerecundus  was  probably  the  owner  or  lessee  of 
the  mine,  and  resided  in  London.1 

The  products  of  some  British  mines  being  worked  to-day, 
when  prepared  for  market,  are  of  the  same  shape  and  size, 
and  bear  inscriptions  of  the  same  general  form  as  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  same  mines  in  the  time  of  Roman  occupation.2 
A  pig  of  lead  found  in  Shropshire  distinctly  shows  the 
grain  of  the  wooden  model  from  which  the  mould  was 
formed,  —  so  much  so  that  the  nature  of  the  wood  (oak) 
is  clearly  distinguished. 

Early  writers  have  little  to  say  of  the  methods  by  which 
ores  and  minerals  were  exploited  in  ancient  times,  and  we 
are  obliged  to  supplement  the  meagre  information  handed 
down  to  us  with  the  testimony  of  modern  travellers  and 
archaeologists  who  have  explored  the  seats  of  old  mining 
enterprises,  and  have  discovered  and  described  ruins  which 
are  frequently  the  only  evidences  of  operations  of  vast  ex- 
tent, and  which  attest  the  skill  and  energy  of  the  ancient 
miner  and  metallurgist. 

In  remote  periods,  and  among  barbarous  nations,  mining 
operations  were  of  the  crudest  character.  Sharpened  flints, 
or  the  teeth  of  wild  animals  fastened  to  a  stick,  were  com- 
monly used  for  excavating,  and  stone  hammers  and  mauls 
sufficed  to  break  the  ore.  In  the  stone  age  in  Great  Britain 
the  flint  for  the  weapons  and  implements  of  the  natives 
was  often  procured  from  subterranean  workings.  Dawkins 
refers  to  two  of  these  seats  of  mining  enterprise,  in  which 

1  Archaeologia,  vol.  vii.  p.  171. 

2  Phillips,  quoted  by  Percy,  p.  214. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  ANTIQUITY.  31 

shafts  connected  by  galleries  had  been  sunk  to  find  flint  of 
proper  character.  The  miners  were  not  acquainted  with 
the  art  of  timbering  their  shafts  and  galleries,  and  conse- 
quently were  unable  to  drift  to  any  considerable  distance 
underground,  and  when  the  flint  within  easy  reach  was 
exhausted  they  sunk  a  new  shaft.  In  one  of  these  old 
shafts  many  of  their  tools  have  been  found,  comprising 
picks  made  of  the  antlers  of  the  stag,  polished  stone  celts, 
chisels  of  bone  and  horn,  and  little  cups  made  of  chalk, 
which  Dawkins  thinks  held  the  grease  which  provided  light 
for  their  work.1 

The  Egyptians  knew  how  to  smelt  iron  and  to  manufac- 
ture bronze  long  before  the  date  of  the  earliest  written 
history;  and  it  is  probable  that  other  nations  possessed 
these  arts  at  a  very  remote  period,  thus  providing  them- 
selves with  picks  and  hammers  of  metal.  It  is  said  that 
the  Egyptians  used  bronze  chisels  for  working  the  syenite 
of  their  quarries ;  and  the  stupendous  character  of  the 
ruins  of  ancient  Egypt  has  given  rise  to  the  suggestion 
that  they  possessed  means  of  so  treating  bronze  as  to  ren- 
der it  suitable  for  working  so  hard  a  substance  as  syenite ; 
but  if  this  was  the  case  the  art  is  now  lost.2  It  is  pos- 
sible, however,  that  the  power  of  the  Pharaohs  enabled 
them  to  command  the  services  of  innumerable  slaves  and 
captives,  and  thus  substitute  brute  force  for  scientific 
methods.3  The  tools  and  implements  found  in  ancient 
Nubian  mines  are  of  bronze.  This  is  considered  as  strong 
evidence  of  their  great  antiquity,  as  iron  was  probably  un- 
known.4 Picks  and  hammers  of  iron,  wedges  of  iron  and 

1  W.  Boyd  Dawkins,  Early  Man  in  Britain  (London,  1880),  p.  276. 

2  The  addition  of  small  quantities  of  foreign  metals  has  a  tendency  to  make 
copper  hard  and  brittle,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  presence  in  the 
Egyptian  copper  of  impurities,  even  in  small  quantities,  would  explain  the  suc- 
cessful use  of  copper  chisels  in  working  the  hard  syenite  of  their  quarries. 

8  Wilkinson,  Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  ii.  p.  158. 
4  Heeren,  Ancient  Nations  of  Africa,  vol.  ii.  p.  333. 


32  A   HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

of  bronze  have  been  found  in  ancient  mines  in  Greece,  in 
the  Isle  of  Elba,  in  France,  Spain,  England,  and  in  other 
European  countries.1  The  picks  and  hammers  were  fre- 
quently of  great  size,  much  heavier  than  those  in  use 
to-day.  These  implements,  supplemented  with  fire,  were 
the  means  used  by  the  ancients  to  bore  into  the  mountains 
in  search  of  ore. 

A  reference  to  mining  is  found  in  the  book  of  Job : 
"  Surely  there  is  a  vein  for  the  silver  and  a  place  for  gold 
where  they  fine  it.  Iron  is  taken  out  of  the  earth,  and 
brass  is  molten  out  of  the  stone.  He  setteth  an  end  to 
darkness,  and  searcheth  out  all  perfection ;  the  stones  of 
darkness,  and  the  shadow  of  death."  "  There  is  a  path 
which  no  fowl  knoweth,  and  which  the  vulture's  eye  hath 
not  seen.  The  lion's  whelps  have  not  trodden  it,  nor  the 
fierce  lion  passed  by  it.  He  putteth  forth  his  hand  upon 
the  rock ;  he  overturneth  the  mountains  by  the  roots.  He 
cutteth  out  rivers  among  the  rocks ;  and  his  eye  seeth 
every  precious  thing.  He  bindeth  the  floods  from  over- 
flowing ;  and  the  thing  that  is  hid  bringeth  he  forth  to 
light."2 

The  Egyptians  did  not  sink  shafts,  but  drove  levels  or 
galleries  into  the  mountains,  supporting  the  roofs  by  leav- 
ing columns  of  natural  rock.  Diodorus  refers  to  galleries 
in  the  Spanish  mines  of  marvellous  extent.3  Leger  directs 
attention  to  the  wonderful  empirical  knowledge  of  the 
ancient  miners.  Though  ignorant  of  geological  science 
they  followed  the  veins  or  beds  of  ore  with  great  exactness, 
and  when  by  reason  of  a  fault  the  vein  was  lost  they  in- 
variably found  it.  Their  exploitations,  however,  were  con- 
ducted wherever  possible  on  the  crest  of  the  vein ;  as  when 
they  were  obliged  to  follow  it  far  below  the  surface  the 
difficulties  arising  from  defective  ventilation,  the  presence 

1  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  etc.,  p.  690. 

2  Job  xxviii.  1-3  ;  7-11.  8  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  321. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  ANTIQUITY.  33 

of  water,  etc.,  frequently  occasioned  the  abandonment  of 
the  work.1 

The  mining  by  the  Romans  in  England  was  generally 
superficial.  They  opened  the  vein  on  the  surface,  exploit- 
ing to  but  little  depth  but  following  it  longitudinally  to 
great  distances,  forming  deep  ditches  or  open  cuttings. 
The  vast  extent  and  richness  of  the  deposits  rendered  it 
unnecessary  to  follow  the  lode  where  serious  obstacles  in- 
tervened, and  in  such  cases  the  workings  were  abandoned 
and  new  prospects  were  exploited.2  Phillips  thinks  the 
ore  near  the  surface  was  exposed  by  the  method  called 
"  hushing."  The  miners  in  the  north  of  England  conduct 
this  process  in  the  following  manner :  A  reservoir  is  con- 
structed upon  elevated  ground,  and  when  a  large  quantity 
of  water  is  collected  the  wall  of  the  reservoir  is  cut,  and 
the  water  rushing  down  the  hill  with  great  violence  tears 
up  and  removes  the  soil,  exposing  the  mineral.3 

The  extensive  rock  excavations  of  the  ancient  miners 
were  made  possible  by  what  has  been  termed  in  later  times 
"fire-setting."  Fires  were  made  against  the  face  of  the 
rock,  which,  under  the  influence  of  heat,  split,  and  pieces 
of  rock  were  readily  removed  by  inserting  the  point  of  a 
pick,  or  of  a  wedge  into  the  crack.  One  of  these  wedges, 
almost  entirely  incrusted  with  lead  ore,  has  been  found 
in  an  ancient  mine  in  Wales.4  This  method  of  removing 
rock  was  practised,  not  only  in  ancient  times,  but  during 
the  middle  ages,  and  in  some  districts  even  after  the 
introduction  of  gunpowder  for  such  purposes.  Agricola 
describes  and  illustrates  the  process  of  fire-setting,  and 
shows  the  preparation  of  the  wood  and  the  methods  em- 


1  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  etc.,  p.  690. 

2  John  Williams,  F.S.S.A.,  The  Natural  History  of  the  Mineral  Kingdom 
(Edinburgh,  2  vols.,  1810),  vol.  i.  p.  350. 

3  Hunt,.  British  Mining,  p.  505. 

4  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  74. 

3 


34  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

ployed.1  In  the  ancient  mining  laws  of  England  regula- 
tions for  fire-setting  were  established,  providing  that  the 
fires  should  not  be  made  during  the  hours  when  miners 
were  at  work.2  Sometimes  the  ancient  miner  poured  water 
or  vinegar  upon  the  heated  rock,  to  facilitate  cracking  and 
splitting,  when  heat  alone  failed  to  produce  the  desired 
effect.3  Hannibal  is  said  to  have  employed  this  method  of 
removing  rocks  when  building  his  road  across  the  Alps. 
The  use  of  fire  in  galleries  of  considerable  extent  must 
frequently  have  been  fatal  to  the  miners,  by  filling  the 
mines  with  the  vapors  of  the  products  of  combustion.  It 
is  probable,  therefore,  that  this  means  of  excavating  was 
resorted  to  only  when  the  strata  were  composed  of  the 
hardest  and  most  refractory  materials ;  ordinarily  the  pick, 
hammer,  and  wedge  were  used,  and  heavy  mauls  shod  with 
iron,  and  worked  probably  by  two  or  more  men,  on  the 
principle  of  the  battering-ram. 

The  galleries  were  commonly  of  the  smallest  possible 
area,  and  the  ore  and  debris  were  brought  out  in  small 
quantities  at  a  time.  In  some  cases  the  miners  were  un- 
able to  stand  erect  or  to  pass  each  other,  when  the  material 
was  filled  into  small  baskets  and  passed  from  one  to 
another,  the  men  forming  a  line  from  the  face  at  which 
the  work  was  being  prosecuted  to  the  mouth  of  the  mine. 
Pliny  describes  this  method  of  removing  the  ore  in  narrow 
galleries,  and  says,  "  The  last  man  was  the  only  one  who 
saw  the  light  of  day."4  This  method  was  practised  as 
late  as  1831  in  the  lead  mines  of  Ajmeer,  in  India.  The 
ore  was  broken  where  it  was  found  into  small  pieces  and 
put  into  baskets ;  as  the  gallery  was  not  high  enough 
to  allow  the  miners  to  stand  erect  they  sat  upon  their 

1  Georgius  Agricola,  De  Re  Metallica  Basileae  (1556),  p.  80. 

2  Hunt,  British  Mining,  p.  144. 

8  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiii.  chap,  xxvii. 
4  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiii.  chap.  xxi. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  ANTIQUITY.  35 

haunches  in  a  row,  and  passed  the  baskets  on  from  one  to 
another.1 

The  ancient  shafts  were  usually  of  the  smallest  possible 
diameter ;  some  have  been  found  in  France  so  narrow  that 
they  were  provided  with  steps,  or  notches,  cut  in  opposite 
sides,  to  afford  a  support  to  the  hands  and  feet  of  the 
miners  in  climbing  up  and  down ;  and  small  cavities  were 
hollowed  out  at  intervals  to  receive  the  lamps  to  illuminate 
the  mine.  The  shafts  were  occasionally  furnished  with 
timbering  to  prevent  the  caving  of  the  surrounding  earth, 
as  is  the  custom  to-day,  and  the  roofs  of  galleries  were 
supported  by  columns  and  arches  of  the  natural  rock,  left 
for  this  purpose  during  the  excavation.2 

Occasional  references  to  the  management  of  water  are 
found  in  the  works  of  ancient  authors.  The  absence  of 
proper  methods  for  reducing  this  obstacle  to  all  deep  min- 
ing operations  proved  a  serious  embarrassment,  and  was 
the  occasion  of  the  abandonment  of  many  mines,  perhaps 
at  a  time  when  the  richest  ores  were  in  sight.  This  fact 
may  explain  the  profitable  working,  in  modern  times,  of 
mines  abandoned  in  early  days.  The  mines  in  Spain 
opened  and  worked  by  Hannibal  continued  to  be  operated 
for  centuries.  One  of  the  mines  opened  by  him,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  in  the  district  of  Linares,  is  described  by  Pliny 
as  follows :  "  The  mountain  is  already  excavated  for  the 
distance  of  1,500  paces,  and  throughout  the  whole  of  this 
distance  there  are  water-bearers  standing  night  and  day, 
bailing  out  the  water  in  turns,  regulated  by  the  light  of 
torches,  and  so  forming  quite  a  river." 3 

At  the  World's  Exposition  of  1867,  in  Paris,  there  were 
exhibited  several  articles  formerly  used  in  mining  oper- 
ations in  Spain  and  Portugal  by  the  Phoenicians  and 

1  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  etc.,  p.  294. 

2  Daubree,  L'Exploitation  des  Mines,  etc. 

8  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiii.  chap.  xxi. 


36  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

Eomans ;  among  them  was  a  basket  made  of  reeds,  closely 
woven,  covered  with  tar,  and  fixed  in  a  wooden  frame, 
evidently  used  for  bailing  water  from  the  mines.  Bronze 
hatchets,  stone  hammers,  iron  wedges,  tongs,  miners'  lamps 
of  earthenware,  glass  vessels,  a  leaden  chaldron,  and 
amphorse  filled  with  powdered  mineral,1  recovered  from 
ancient  mines,  were  also  on  exhibition. 

In  some  cases  draining-levels,  or  tunnels,  were  con- 
structed to  discharge  the  water.  At  Las  Babias,  in  Spain, 
vestiges  of  canals,  to  bring  water  from  great  distances  for 
mining  or  metallurgical  operations,  can  still  be  traced.1 

According  to  Strabo,  the  Turdetani  used  the  Archimedean 
screw  for  removing  water  from  their  mines.2  Diodorus, 
referring  to  the  Spanish  mines,  says :  "  Sometimes  at  great 
depths  they  meet  great  rivers  underground,  but  by  art  give 
a  check  to  the  violence  .of  the  current;  for  by  cutting  of 
trenches  they  divert  the  stream,  and  being  sure  to  gain 
what  they  aim  at,  when  they  have  begun  they  never  leave 
off  till  they  have  finished  it ;  and  to  admiration  they  pump 
out  those  floods  of  water  with  those  instruments  called 
Egyptian  pumps,  invented  by  Archimedes,  the  Syracusan, 
when  he  was  in  Egypt.  By  these,  with  constant  pumping, 
they  throw  up  the  water  to  the  mouth  of  the  pit ;  for  this 
engine  is  so  ingeniously  contrived  that  a  vast  quantity  of 
water  is  strangely,  with  little  labor,  cast  out."3  According 
to  Daubree,  the  Romans  erected  in  the  San  Domingo  mines, 
in  Portugal,  a  series  of  fourteen  water-wheels,  each  six 
metres  in  diameter,  to  discharge  water  from  the  mine ;  one 
wheel  was  placed  in  the  bottom  of  the  pit  and  lifted  the 
water  to  a  level  above,  where  a  second  wheel  took  it  and 
raised  it  to  a  still  higher  level,  where  the  third  wheel  re- 
ceived it,  and  so  on  until  the  surface  was  reached.4  The 

1  See  Daubree,  L'Exploitation  des  Mines,  etc. 

2  Strabo,  book  iii.  chap.  ii.  8  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  319. 
4  Daubree,  L'Exploitation  des  Mines,  etc. 


THE  LEAD  MINES   OF  ANTIQUITY.  37 

ancient  Mexican  used  buckets  made  of  hide  for  bailing  the 
water  from  their  shafts. 

Lifting  pumps  were  introduced  in  mining  operations 
at  an  early  period.  Agricola,  in  the  first  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  describes  elaborate  systems  of  lifting, 
bucket,  and  chain  pumps,  some  worked  by  men  turning  a 
crank  attached  to  a  gear,  others  worked  by  men  operating  a 
treadmill ;  in  others  the  power  is  supplied  by  undershot  or 
overshot  water-wheels,  and  in  others  by  horse-power.  One 
of  these  systems  consisted  of  a  series  of  several  pumps, 
the  lowest  raising  the  water  to  a  reservoir,  in  which  another 
pump  was  placed  which  raised  it  to  a  reservoir  still  higher, 
when  a  third  raised  the  water  to  the  surface.  This 
author  also  describes  chain-pumps  arranged  in  a  similar 
manner.1 

So  late  as  1690  the  water  in  the  coal  mines  of  England 
was  reduced  by  chain-pumps  worked  by  water-wheels ;  and 
in  1709  no  better  means  was  in  use  in  the  Newcastle 
district.2 

The  steam-engine  is  said  to  have  been  introduced  for 
pumping  water  from  mines  as  early  as  1702,  but  Pryce 
says  the  Marquis  of  Worcester,  in  a  work  which  he  pub- 
lished in  1663,  was  probably  the  first  who  suggested  raising 
great  quantities  of  water  "  by  the  force  of  fire  converting 
water  into  steam."3 

In  the  South  American  silver  mines  the  natives  aban- 
doned work  when  the  water  became  troublesome ;  and  the 
early  miners  in  Missouri,  and  in  the  Galena  district,  fre- 
quently surrendered  rich  prospects  for  the  same  cause.4 
According  to  Pumpelly,  the  Japanese  were  very  skilful  in 
mining  above  the  water  level,  and  found  and  worked 

1  Agricola,  De  Re  Metallica,  p.  131  et  seq. 

2  Phillips  and  Darlington,  Records  of  Mining  and  Metallurgy,  p.  27. 
8  W.  Pryce,  Mineralogia  Cornubiensis,  p.  153. 

4  School  craft,  A  View  of  the  Lead  Mines  of  Missouri,  etc.,  p.  159. 


38  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

countless  deposits,  exhausting  them  down  to  the  point 
where  water  compelled  them  to  leave;  as  a  consequence 
great  numbers  of  veins  have  been  abandoned  at  a  time 
when  they  were  most  productive.1  Draining  by  the  con- 
struction of  levels  was  frequently  resorted  to  by  the 
ancient  miners,  but  when  the  ore  could  be  reached  by  driv- 
ing galleries  into  the  mountain  this  method  was  adopted  in 
preference  to  sinking  shafts. 

We  know  but  little  of  the  methods  adopted  by  the 
ancients  to  secure  proper  ventilation  of  their  mines.  Pliny 
mentions  the  occurrence  of  "sulphureous"  or  "aluminous" 
substances  in  deep  wells,  which  were  fatal  to  those  who 
entered  them;  and  he  recommended  the  sinking  of  vent 
holes  on  each  side  of  the  well  to  carry  off  the  noxious 
exhalations.2  In  the  sixteenth  century  methods  of  venti- 
lation were  well  understood.  Agricola  describes  several 
devices  for  supplying  mines  with  fresh  air;  by  pits  con- 
nected with  the  shaft,  or  with  the  galleries,  or  with 
chimneys;  or  by  forcing  air  into  the  shaft  by  huge  bel- 
lows, worked  by  horse-power  or  water-wheels.3  It  is  pos- 
sible the  ancients  were  acquainted  with  and  used  similar 
expedients  for  the  supply  of  pure  air  to  their  shafts  and 
galleries. 

The  ancient  miners  used  torches  of  light  and  dry  wood 
to  enable  them  to  carry  on  their  work  underground ;  in 
some  cases,  it  is  said,  the  duration  of  these  torches  served 
to  mark  the  task  required  of  the  miner.4  The  ancient 
Egyptians  at  first  used  torches,  but  in  the  time  of  Aga- 
tharchides  they  used  lamps  fastened  to  their  foreheads  to 
light  them  at  their  work.5 


1  B.  Pumpelly,  Across  America  and  Asia,  p.  145. 

2  Pliny,  book  xxxi.  chap.  xxix. 

8  Agricola,  De  Re  Metallica,  p.  159. 
4  Pliny,  book  xxxiii.  chap.  xxi. 
6  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  158. 


THE  LEAD  MINES   OF  ANTIQUITY.  39 

In  ancient  times  work  in  the  mines  was  considered  an 
inferior  employment,  fit  only  to  be  performed  by  captives 
and  slaves. 

In  remote  times  all  captives  taken  in  war  were  put  to 
death.  One  of  the  first  steps  in  civilization  consisted  in 
sparing  the  lives  of  such  captives  and  enslaving  them. 
The  carvings  on  the  Egyptian  monuments  bear  frequent 
reference  to  the  enslaving  of  captives,  and  in  that  remote 
period  traffic  in  slaves  was  recognized  as  a  legitimate  pur- 
suit, to  be  conducted  by  States,  princes,  or  by  private 
individuals.  The  workers  in  the  Egyptian  mines  were 
principally  captives  taken  in  war,  notorious  criminals,  and 
other  offenders.  The  fate  of  these  wretched  beings  was 
pitiable  in  the  extreme.  They  were  forced  to  work  in  chains, 
under  the  supervision  of  overseers  who  were  ignorant  of 
their  language  and  whom  they  could  not  understand ; 
neither  age  nor  sex  was  spared ;  the  sick  and  the  maimed, 
men,  women,  and  children,  were  driven  to  their  work  with 
imprecations  and  blows.1 

The  mines  in  Macedonia  were  at  one  period  the  property 
of  the  community,  and  were  leased  to  private  individuals 
who  were  owners  of  great  numbers  of  slaves ;  these  slaves 
were  under  the  supervision  of  overseers,  who  frequently 
were  slaves  themselves.  Slavery  as  it  existed  in  Greece  at 
this  time  does  not  present  such  a  terrible  aspect  as  in  the 
days  of  ancient  Egypt.  The  principal  slaves  —  those  to 
whom  was  intrusted  the  care  of  the  cattle,  and  other  re- 
sponsibilities —  had  the  entire  confidence  of  their  masters, 
were  well  treated,  and  had  slaves  under  them.  The  custom 
of  that  time,  of  making  slaves  of  those  taken  in  war  or  in 


1  Agatharchides,  De  Rubro  Mari ;  Geographise  Veteris  Scriptores,  etc., 
edited  by  John  Hudson  (Oxon.  1698).  According  to  Heeren,  great  quantities  of 
human  bones  have  been  discovered  in  the  galleries  of  the  Nubian  mines,  —  the 
remains  of  the  poor  wretches  who  were  buried  and  smothered  by  the  caving 
walls. 


40  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

the  freebooting  expeditions  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  coun- 
tries bordering  upon  the  Mediterranean,  rendered  any  man 
liable  to  become  a  slave,  and  frequently  the  slave  was  as 
well  born  as  his  master.1  Slavery  as  it  existed  in  Rome, 
under  the  Commonwealth,  was  also  of  this  character. 
Business  of  all  kinds  was  conducted  by  slaves ;  bankers 
intrusted  their  affairs  to  them,  and  the  business  of  build- 
ing, architecture,  mining,  and  manufactures  of  all  kinds, 
was  conducted  by  slaves.2 

When  the  Romans  had  conquered  Spain  they  found  that 
the  Carthaginians  had  depended  upon  slave  labor  for  work- 
ing the  mines ;  they  accordingly  continued  the  practice, 
and  soon  the  demand  for  this  class  of  labor  increased  to 
such  an  extent  that  great  expeditions  were  fitted  out  for 
the  express  purpose  of  taking  captives.  Diodorus  relates 
that  after  Iberia  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Romans, 
"  the  mines  were  managed  by  a  great  throng  of  Italians, 
whose  covetousness  loaded  them  with  riches;  for  they 
bought  a  great  number  of  slaves,  who  were  delivered  over 
to  the  overseers  of  the  mines." 3  Renault,  in  his  voyage, 
in  1719,  from  France  to  the  mining  region  in  Missouri, 
stopped  at  San  Domingo  and  purchased  five  hundred  slaves 
to  work  his  mines. 

The  Romans  sometimes  procured  men  to  work  their  mines 
in  Spain  by  conscription.  The  people  who  lived  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  mines  were  compelled  to  give  their  own 
services  as  well  as  that  of  their  families.  This  oppression, 
however,  drove  them  to  escape,  until  a  law  was  enacted  by 
which  all  the  children  were  required  to  give  their  services, 
and  those  who  had  left  were  ordered  to  return.4  Con- 
scription has  been  resorted  to  in  later  times  to  procure 

1  Grote,  History  of  Greece,  vol.  ii.  p.  133. 

2  Theodore  Mommsen,  History  of  Rome,  translated  by  W.  P.  Dickson,  D.D. 
(New  York,  1872),  vol.  ii.  p.  450. 

8  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  320.     4  Jacob,  History  of  Precious  Metals,  vol.  i.  p.  173. 


THE   LEAD  MINES   OF  ANTIQUITY.  41 

miners.  In  1296  a  large  number  of  men  were  impressed 
in  Wales  and  Derbyshire  to  work  the  mines  of  Devon; 
and  in  1360  a  writ  was  issued  authorizing  certain  persons 
to  take  up  as  many  workmen  as  was  necessary  to  work  the 
King's  mines  in  Devon,  allowing  them  reasonable  wages, 
and  to  arrest  and  imprison  such  as  should  resist.1 

It  has  always  been  understood  that  captives  taken  in 
war  were  bound  to  undertake  any  tasks  set  by  their  cap- 
tors ;  and  we  find  that  not  only  in  Egypt,  Greece,  and 
Rome,  but  in  later  times,  the  practice  has  been  continued. 
Galgacus,  a  British  leader,  in  his  address  to  his  troops  before 
engaging  in  battle  with  the  Romans,  warns  them  of  their 
fate  should  they  be  overcome,  and  tells  them  that  slavery 
and  work  in  the  mines  will  be  the  penalties  of  defeat.2 
On  the  30th  of  October,  1777,  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  directed  the  Board  of  War  to  write  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  State  of  New  York  recommending  it  forth- 
with to  take  measures  to  have  the  lead  mines  in  that  State 
worked,  and  promising,  in  case  laborers  were  scarce,  to 
supply  prisoners-of-war  for  that  purpose.3 

From  the  earliest  historical  period  those  convicted  of 
crimes  against  the  State  have  been  condemned  to  work  in 
mines.  This  custom  prevailed  in  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome, 
and  has  been  general  until  very  recent  times.  In  a  petition 
to  Charles  I.,  in  1641,  Mr.  Bushell  prays  for  an  extension 
of  his  lease,  and  for  the  employment  of  convicts  to  work 
his  mines.4  The  hardships  of  Russian  state-prisoners  in 
the  mines  of  Siberia  is  a  never-failing  theme  for  story,  and 
a  recent  issue  of  a  St.  Louis  journal  contains  an  account  of 
the  sufferings  of  the  convicts  employed  in  the  coal  mines 
of  Kentucky.  The  galleries  are  said  to  be  but  four  feet 

1  Hunt,  British  Mining,  p.  130. 

2  Tacitus,  Life  of  Agricola,  quoted  by  Hunt,  p.  24. 

3  Journal  of  Congress,  vol.  iii.  p.  365. 

4  Phillips  and  Darlington,  Records  of  Mining,  etc.,  p.  20. 


42  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

high,  so  that  the  men  are  obliged  to  assume  a  kneeling 
position  while  working;  the  food  is  insufficient,  the  sick 
and  maimed  are  not  excused  from  labor,  and  the  lash  is 
sure  to  follow  failure  to  accomplish  the  task  within  the 
allotted  time.1  In  the  mines  of  Alabama  the  convicts  who 
attempt  escape  are  pursued  by  bloodhounds.2  The  employ- 
ment of  convicts  in  the  mines  in  the  United  States  is  not 
confined  to  the  States  of  Kentucky  and  Alabama ;  other 
Southern  States  lease  the  labor  of  their  convicts  to  contrac- 
tors who  employ  them  in  a  similar  manner. 

At  the  date  of  the  establishment  of  the  Empire  the 
Romans  had  secured  the  possession  of  the  mineral  treasures 
of  the  known  world,  —  the  mines  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  of 
Spain,  of  Asia  Minor,  and  of  Greece,  the  mineral  wealth 
of  Great  Britain  and  of  Gaul,  and  the  treasures  of  Northern 
Asia  and  Africa.3 

At  the  period  of  these  conquests  the  Romans  had  given 
little  attention  to  the  peaceful  arts,  and  were  unskilled  in 
mining  and  metallurgy.  The  power  of  their  arms  had 
given  them  great  mineral  wealth,  but  they  were  obliged  to 
turn  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  conquered  countries  for  the 
knowledge  and  skill  necessary  to  utilize  their  new  acquisi- 
tions ;  they  posted  their  legions  at  strategic  points  along 
the  highways  of  the  conquered  provinces,  established  forti- 
fied camps  near  the  mines,  and  received  the  product  of  the 
industry  of  the  subjugated  people  and  transported  it  to 
Rome. 

At  the  origin  of  the  republic  the  mines  were  free.  The 
proprietor  of  the  land  was  owner  of  all  minerals  found 
upon  it  or  below  its  surface.  Under  the  emperors  the  State 
claimed  in  some  cases  ownership  of  all  minerals,  and  in 
other  instances  mines  were  worked  for  the  State.  Mines 

1  St.  Louis  Republican,  January  17,  1886. 

2  St.  Louis  Post  Despatch,  March  26,  1886. 
8  Jacob,  the  Precious  Metals,  vol.  i.  p.  134. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF   ANTIQUITY.  43 

in  all  conquered  countries  were  the  property  of  the  State,1 
and  were  worked  for  the  emperors,  slaves  and  captives 
being  employed.  This  method  proving  unprofitable  the 
system  of  leasing  was  adopted;  this  also  was  unsatis- 
factory, because  the  lessees  left  the  poorer  ores  to  accumu- 
late in  great  heaps  as  rubbish,  working  only  the  purer  and 
richer.  They  neglected  to  properly  support  the  walls  and 
roofs  of  their  shafts  and  galleries,  and  when,  by  this  neglect 
and  the  accumulation  of  debris,  the  working  became  un- 
profitable they  abandoned  their  leases.  The  mines  were 
finally  taken  from  the  lessees  and  worked  solely  for  the 
State ;  they  were  cleaned,  new  and  substantial  improve- 
ments erected,  and  for  a  time  the  new  system  was  success- 
ful. Some  of  the  more  valuable  mines  were  guarded  with 
jealous  care ;  they  were  closed  by  a  door,  the  key  of  which 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  governor ;  others  were  strongly 
fortified,  and  the  entrance  surrounded  by  a  strong  wall.2 
New  mines  were  opened,  and  those  already  operated  were 
worked  with  greater  vigor ;  but  the  Romans  were  ignorant 
of  scientific  methods,  and  were  dependent  upon  others  for 
the  skill  necessary  to  successful  mining  and  metallurgical 
operations.  This  fact,  together  with  the  disturbed  condition 
of  some  districts,  owing  to  the  incursions  of  the  barbarians, 
soon  interrupted  the  work,  and  from  the  third  century 
mining  in  the  Western  Eoman  provinces  began  rapidly  to 
decline.  The  Byzantines  surrendered  their  mines  to  the 
Arabs,  retaining  those  in  Asia  Minor,  Thrace,  and  Greece 
to  the  last ;  finally,  in  the  fifth  century,  mining  and  kin- 
dred industries  of  the  civilized  world  were  almost  entirely 
destroyed.3 

Towards  the  close  of  the  fifth  century  the  Vandals  had 
conquered  Africa ;  Spain  and  Gaul  were  in  the  possession 
of  the  Suevi  and  Visigoths ;  the  Burgundians  and  other 

1  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  p.  687.  2  Id.  p.  689. 

8  Jacob,  The  Precious  Metals,  p.  136  et  seq> 


44  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

nations  had  taken  Germany  and  other  European  provinces. 
For  centuries  after  this  time  mining,  manufactures,  trade, 
and  commerce,  which  were  almost  extinguished  by  the  fall 
of  Rome,  showed  little  signs  of  revival.  The  rise  of 
Mahomet  and  the  conquest  of  Asia  and  parts  of  Europe  by 
the  Saracens,  together  with  the  threatened  domination  of 
these  religious  fanatics  over  all  Christendom,  completed  the 
paralysis  which  had  seized  upon  the  arts,  sciences,  com- 
merce, and  progress  of  every  kind.  During  this  period, 
Hallam  asserts,  there  appears  in  the  secular  world  no  vestige 
of  manufacturing  industry  except  of  the  simplest  kind, 
and  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  immediate  community ;  the 
rich  kept  in  their  own  employ  workmen  to  furnish  the 
necessities  of  a  rude  civilization ;  the  clothing  of  kings  was 
made  by  their  own  servants;  the  insecurity  of  property, 
the  robbery  and  extortion  practised  upon  the  highways, 
prohibited  trade  and  commerce  except  with  the  nearest  and 
friendly  neighbors.1  The  robber-baron  in  his  stronghold, 
perched  high  upon  inaccessible  rocks,  commanding  an  ex- 
tensive view  of  the  passes  of  the  country,  had  a  pack  of 
freebooters  at  his  back,  ever  ready  to  sally  forth  and  swoop 
down  upon  any  unlucky  merchant  or  traveller  who  might 
be  making  his  way  through  the  district,  and  who  would 
esteem  himself  fortunate  to  escape  with  the  loss  of  his 
wares. 

But  little  intercourse  existed  between  the  Eastern  Medi- 
terranean countries.  Venice,  however,  founded  by  fugitives 
from  the  northern  barbarians  in  the  fifth  century,  had 
attained  some  prominence  in  the  seventh,  and  later  had 
some  trade  with  the  East.  The  Venetians  were  daring 
navigators  and  enterprising  traders,  and  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury their  trade  attained  considerable  development.  They 
had  established  themselves  in  Egypt  and  at  ports  in  the 

1  Henry  Hallam,  LL.D.,  F.R.A.S.,  View  of  the  State  of  Europe  during  the 
Middle  Ages  (New  York,  1863,  3  vols.),  vol.  iii.  p.  297. 


THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  ANTIQUITY.  45 

Levant,  and  monopolized  the  commerce,  limited  except  in 
slaves,  which  existed  between  the  Mediterranean  countries 
and  the  East.  Their  position  on  the  sea,  near  the  mouths 
of  the  Po  and  the  Adige,  enabled  them  to  communicate 
with  parts  of  France,  Germany,  and  Switzerland,  exchang- 
ing the  products  of  those  countries  for  the  spices,  silks, 
dyes,  and  drugs  of  the  Orient.1  With  this  meagre  excep- 
tion, commerce  and  the  peaceful  arts  had  ceased  to  exist,  or 
remained  hidden  beneath  the  heavy  pall  of  ignorance  and 
barbarism  which  fell  upon  the  civilized  world,  only  to  be 
lifted  at  the  great  revival  some  centuries  later. 

1  W.  Heyd,  Histoire  du  Commerce  du  Levant  an  Moyen  Age,  Edition  Fran- 
§aise,  par  Furcy  Raynaud  (Leipzig,  1885),  vol.  i.  p.  110. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  LEAD  MINES  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 

THE  Saracens,  after  conquering  Africa  and  Asia,  turned 
their  attention  to  Europe ;  they  subjugated  the  islands 
of  the  Grecian  Archipelago,  captured  Sicily,  and  early  in 
the  eighth  century  they  invaded  Spain.  Within  three  years 
they  had  complete  possession  of  the  country,  except  a  por- 
tion of  the  northern  mountainous  region,  where  a  remnant 
of  the  Visigoths  made  a  stand  and  could  not  be  dislodged. 
They  and  their  successors  waged  war  for  more  than  seven 
hundred  years  against  their  Oriental  foes. 

There  is  no  existing  account  of  the  mining  operations 
of  the  nations  who  occupied  Spain  immediately  after 
the  Romans.  The  barbarians  who  overran  the  country 
were  a  rude  and  warlike  people,  who  probably  contented 
themselves  with  the  plunder  they  acquired  in  war. 

We  are  also  unfortunately  without  contemporaneous 
data  respecting  the  mining  operations  of  the  Saracens  in 
Spain.  Such  works  of  Moorish  authors,  of  the  period  of 
occupation  of  Spanish  territory,  as  are  accessible  rarely  re- 
fer to  mines,  or  to  mining  operations.  If  any  information 
of  this  nature  exists  it  is  buried  in  the  Arabian  manu- 
scripts in  the  "Escurial,"  —  a  name,  curiously  enough,  de- 
rived from  the  Spanish  word  "  escoria,"  meaning  dross  or 
refuse,  and  applied  to  old  and  abandoned  mines.  Modern 
travellers,  however,  have  discovered  vestiges  of  extensive 
mining  operations  which  were  conducted  by  the  Moors. 


LEAD  MINES   OF  THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  4*7 

Their  chief  mines  were  in  the  district  of  Linares,  where 
some  of  the  hills  are  said  to  have  been  "  pierced  as  full  of 
holes  as  a  sieve ; "  more  than  five  thousand  galleries,  within 
five  paces  of  each  other,  have  been  traced,  which  must  have 
yielded  great  quantities  of  silver,  copper,  and  lead. 

Some  writers  assert  that  certain  of  the  tribes  that  over- 
turned the  Roman  Empire  settled  in  Bohemia,  Moravia, 
and  Saxony  in  the  seventh  century,  taking  with  them  the 
art  of  mining  and  of  extracting  metals  from  their  ores. 
The  first  book  on  mining  laws,  written  in  Italy  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  contains  numerous  German  technical 
terms  and  phrases,  indicating  that  Germany  was  at  that 
time  one  of  the  principal  centres  of  mining  and  of  metal- 
lurgical operations.1 

It  is  believed  that  mines  were  opened  and  extensively 
worked  in  Hungary  and  Austria  by  the  Romans ;  but  there 
are  no  records  extant  by  which  this  fact  can  be  established. 
Extensive  workings  of  a  very  remote  period  have  been 
discovered  in  those  countries,  in  which  galleries  of  enormous 
length  and  shafts  of  great  depth  have  been  explored ;  and 
as  these  huge  excavations  were  made  before  the  use  of 
gunpowder  for  mining  purposes,  they  must  have  been  the 
work  of  thousands  of  slaves,  extending  over  many  cen- 
turies, using  the  old  method  of  fire-setting,  or  laboriously 
making  their  way  through  the  rock  with  hammer,  pick, 
wedge,  and  maul.  In  these  ancient  mines  the  purer  and 
richer  ores  only  were  worked.  The  art  of  metallurgy  had 
not  at  that  time  attained  the  perfection  necessary  to  utilize 
the  poorer  ores. 

The  mines  of  Kremnitz  and  Chemnitz  were  worked  at  an 
early  period  by  companies,  who  were  successively  com- 
pelled to  abandon  them  on  account  of  wars,  pestilence,  and 
famine.2  The  earliest  records  of  these  mines  show  that 

1  See  Karsten,  System  der  Metallurgie,  etc. 

2  Jacob,  The  Precious  Metals,  vol.  i.  p.  240. 


48  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

King  Stephen,  in  the  eleventh  century,  appointed  gover- 
nors of  Kremnitz ;  and  in  1241  King  Bela  IV.  issued  the 
first  decree  treating  of  mining  privileges.  In  1356  the 
Emperor  Charles  IV.  gave  exclusive  privileges  of  working 
mines  to  princes  and  sovereigns  of  his  empire.  Regular 
management  and  working  of  these  mines,  however,  has 
prevailed  only  since  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  lead  mines  of  Saxony  and  the  Harz  were  discovered 
as  early  as  the  tenth  century,  but  the  disturbed  condition 
of  the  country  caused  the  working  of  them  to  be  inter- 
rupted and  desultory  until  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
mines  in  Silesia  were  flourishing  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  furnish  evidence  of  very  extensive  exploitation.  After 
a  period  of  suspension  they  were  again  opened  in  1524. 

The  Saxons  and  Danes  worked  the  lead  mines  in  Eng- 
land after  the  abandonment  of  the  country  by  the  Romans.1 
A  mine  at  Castleton  has  been  known  for  centuries  as  the 
Odin  mine,  and  Williams  thinks  it  was  so  named  in  honor 
of  one  of  their  gods.2  Lead  was  mined  at  Wirks worth  by 
the  Saxons  before  714.  When  Guthloc,  the  patron  saint  of 
the  great  Abbey  of  Croyland,  in  Lincolnshire,  died,  Ead- 
burga,  the  abbess,  sent  a  leaden  coffin  in  which  to  bury 
him.  In  835  the  Abbess  of  Croyland  granted  to  Hum- 
bert, the  alderman,  the  estate  of  Wirksworth  at  an  annual 
rental  of  lead,  to  the  value  of  three  hundred  shillings,  for 
the  use  of  Christ  Church,  Canterbury.  The  lead  mines  of 
" Werchesrorde "  are  mentioned  in  "Domesday  Book,"  and 
it  is  probable  the  town  took  its  modern  name,  Wirksworth, 
from  the  lead  works  established  there.3 

In  the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor  the  three  manors 

1  Macpherson  quotes  Raynal's  statement  that  the  Saxons  carried  tin  and  lead 
to  France  in  the  seventh  century,  and  sold  these  productions  at  the  fairs  estab- 
lished by  Dagobert.     D.  MACPHERSON  :  Annals  of  Commerce,  etc.  (4  vols., 
London,  1805),  vol.  i.  p.  288. 

2  Williams,  The  Natural  History  of  the  Mineral  Kingdom,  vol.  ii.  p.  447. 
8  Archseologia,  vol.  v.  pp.  372-374. 


LEAD  MINES  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.         49 

of  Bakewell,  Ashford,  and  Hope,  paid,  as  part  of  their 
tribute,  "V  plaustratus  plumbi  de  L  tabulis,"  or  five  cart- 
loads, or  fodders,  of  ten  pigs  or  blocks  of  lead  each.1 

From  the  landing  of  William  the  Conqueror  the  crown 
assumed  the  entire  right  to  all  mines  and  minerals ;  but  the 
laws  and  regulations  respecting  them  were  of  such  a  nature 
that  all  mining,  except  for  iron,  was  discouraged.  The 
lead  mines  at  Werchesrorde  were  referred  to  in  "  Domes- 
day Book "  as  the  property  of  the  crown ;  and  those  of 
Derbyshire  were  called  the  "King's  field."  From  the 
reign  of  Edward  I.  to  Henry  VII.  grants  were  made  to  the 
nobles  and  others  to  search  for  ores,  but  the  grants  always 
contained  provisions  by  which  a  part  of  the  metal  produced 
was  to  be  paid  to  the  church,  and  another  portion  to  the 
exchequer.  The  owner  of  the  mine  had  no  right  to  any 
portion  of  the  ore  found  upon  his  estate  until  1426,  when 
he  was  allowed  to  share  with  the  church  and  the  crown.2 

Several  mines  were  worked  in  Derbyshire  in  the  time  of 
the  Conqueror,  and  in  the  twelfth  century  lead  in  consider- 
able quantities  was  exported  to  many  parts  of  Europe, 
where  it  was  used  to  cover  the  roofs  of  churches,  castles, 
and  other  great  buildings.3  In  1233  the  mines  of  Alderton 
had  royal  protection.  The  Earl  of  Buchan  obtained  a 
license,  in  1274,  from  Edward  L  to  mine  for  lead  in  the 
Isle  of  Man.  The  mines  in  Devon  were  very  productive 
in  the  reigns  of  Edward  I.  and  II. ;  and  in  1296  miners 
were  impressed  in  Wales  and  Derbyshire  to  work  them. 
In  1283  the  burgesses  of  Flint,  in  Wales,  received  from  the 
King  a  grant  of  timber  out  of  the  neighboring  forests  "to 
smelt  their  lead  ore."  4  The  lead  mines  of  Alderton  were 
worked  in  the  time  of  Edward  III.,  who  seems  to  have 

1  Archaeologia,  vol.  v.  p.  372. 

2  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  77. 

8  D.  Macpherson,  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  i.  p.  345. 
4  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  46. 
4 


48  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

King  Stephen,  in  the  eleventh  century,  appointed  gover- 
nors of  Kremnitz  •  and  in  1241  King  Bela  IV.  issued  the 
first  decree  treating  of  mining  privileges.  In  1356  the 
Emperor  Charles  IV.  gave  exclusive  privileges  of  working 
mines  to  princes  and  sovereigns  of  his  empire.  Regular 
management  and  working  of  these  mines,  however,  has 
prevailed  only  since  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  lead  mines  of  Saxony  and  the  Harz  were  discovered 
as  early  as  the  tenth  century,  but  the  disturbed  condition 
of  the  country  caused  the  working  of  them  to  be  inter- 
rupted and  desultory  until  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
mines  in  Silesia  were  flourishing  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  furnish  evidence  of  very  extensive  exploitation.  After 
a  period  of  suspension  they  were  again  opened  in  1524. 

The  Saxons  and  Danes  worked  the  lead  mines  in  Eng- 
land after  the  abandonment  of  the  country  by  the  Romans.1 
A  mine  at  Castleton  has  been  known  for  centuries  as  the 
Odin  mine,  and  Williams  thinks  it  was  so  named  in  honor 
of  one  of  their  gods.2  Lead  was  mined  at  Wirks worth  by 
the  Saxons  before  714.  When  Guthloc,  the  patron  saint  of 
the  great  Abbey  of  Croyland,  in  Lincolnshire,  died,  Ead- 
burga,  the  abbess,  sent  a  leaden  coffin  in  which  to  bury 
him.  In  835  the  Abbess  of  Croyland  granted  to  Hum- 
bert, the  alderman,  the  estate  of  Wirks  worth  at  an  annual 
rental  of  lead,  to  the  value  of  three  hundred  shillings,  for 
the  use  of  Christ  Church,  Canterbury.  The  lead  mines  of 
" Werchesrorde "  are  mentioned  in  "Domesday  Book,"  and 
it  is  probable  the  town  took  its  modern  name,  Wirksworth, 
from  the  lead  works  established  there.3 

In  the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor  the  three  manors 

1  Macpherson  quotes  Kaynal's  statement  that  the  Saxons  carried  tin  and  lead 
to  France  in  the  seventh  century,  and  sold  these  productions  at  the  fairs  estab- 
lished by  Dagobert.      D.  MACPHERSON  :  Annals  of  Commerce,  etc.  (4  vols., 
London,  1805),  vol.  i.  p.  288. 

2  Williams,  The  Natural  History  of  the  Mineral  Kingdom,  vol.  ii.  p.  447. 
8  Archieologia,  vol.  v.  pp.  372-374. 


LEAD  MINES  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.        49 

of  Bakewell,  Ashford,  and  Hope,  paid,  as  part  of  their 
tribute,  "  V  plaustratus  plumbi  de  L  tabulis,"  or  five  cart- 
loads, or  fodders,  of  ten  pigs  or  blocks  of  lead  each.1 

From  the  landing  of  William  the  Conqueror  the  crown 
assumed  the  entire  right  to  all  mines  and  minerals  ;  but  the 
laws  and  regulations  respecting  them  were  of  such  a  nature 
that  all  mining,  except  for  iron,  was  discouraged.  The 
lead  mines  at  Werchesrorde  were  referred  to  in  "  Domes- 
day Book  "  as  the  property  of  the  crown  ;  and  those  of 
Derbyshire  were  called  the  "King's  field."  From  the 
reign  of  Edward  I.  to  Henry  VII.  grants  were  made  to  the 
nobles  and  others  to  search  for  ores,  but  the  grants  always 
contained  provisions  by  which  a  part  of  the  metal  produced 
was  to  be  paid  to  the  church,  and  another  portion  to  the 
exchequer.  The  owner  of  the  mine  had  no  right  to  any 
portion  of  the  ore  found  upon  his  estate  until  1426,  when 
he  was  allowed  to  share  with  the  church  and  the  crown.2 

Several  mines  were  worked  in  Derbyshire  in  the  time  of 
the  Conqueror,  and  in  the  twelfth  century  lead  in  consider- 
able quantities  was  exported  to  many  parts  of  Europe, 
where  it  was  used  to  cover  the  roofs  of  churches,  castles, 
and  other  great  buildings.3  In  1233  the  mines  of  Alderton 
had  royal  protection.  The  Earl  of  Buchan  obtained  a 
license,  in  1274,  from  Edward  L  to  mine  for  lead  in  the 
Isle  of  Man.  The  mines  in  Devon  were  very  productive 
in  the  reigns  of  Edward  I.  and  II.  ;  and  in  1296  miners 
were  impressed  in  Wales  and  Derbyshire  to  work  them. 
In  1283  the  burgesses  of  Flint,  in  Wales,  received  from  the 
King  a  grant  of  timber  out  of  the  neighboring  forests  "to 
smelt  their  lead  ore."  *  The  lead  mines  of  Alderton  were 
worked  in  the  time  of  Edward  III.,  who  seems  to  have 


1  Archseologia,  vol.  v.  p.  372. 

2  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  77. 

8  D.  Macpherson,  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  i.  p.  345. 
4  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  46. 
4 


50 


A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 


encouraged  mining  enterprises,  and  the  silver  extracted 
from  the  argentiferous  lead  ores  "was  coined  within  the 
manor."  The  mines  of  Devon  and  Cornwall  at  this  time 
yielded  large  revenues  to  Edward  the  Black  Prince. 

During  the  succeeding  reigns  mining  seems  to  have  been 
neglected,  for  in  1488  the  miners  of  Devon  petitioned  the 
crown  for  permission  to  work  the  ores  discovered  by  them. 
Their  prayer  was  granted,  and  soon  after  one  thousand  men 
were  employed  in  the  mines  at  Combe  Martin  and  Beere- 
ferris.  These  mines  were  very  productive  for  some  years, 
and  lead  sold  at  £4  per  ton.1 

Lead  occurs  in  many  parts  of  Ireland,  and  vestiges  of 
ancient  mining  have  been  discovered  in  many  places.  In 
opening  the  mines  at  Milltown,  in  the  last  century,  ancient 
galleries  were  struck  in  which  old  oaken  shovels  and  iron 
picks  of  extraordinary  size  were  discovered,  bearing  all  the 
evidences  of  a  great  antiquity.2 

The  lead  ores  of  Ireland  are  all  argentiferous,  but  the 
veins  are  generally  thin  and  the  ore  insufficient  in  quan- 
tity to  make  mining  profitable,  except  when  the  metal 
commands  a  comparatively  high  price. 

Mining  was  abandoned  in  France  from  the  fourth  century 
until  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  who  issued  an  edict  grant- 
ing mining  privileges  to  his  sons.  During  this  period 
France  depended  upon  Spain  and  Great  Britain  for  her 
supplies  of  lead.  Pigeonneau  mentions  the  importation  of 
lead  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries.  The  exploitation 
of  argentiferous  lead  mines  was  conducted  with  some  vigor 
during  the  reign  of  Charlemagne,  but  after  his  death  it 
gradually  declined,  and  was  soon  abandoned.  Money  was 
coined  at  Ardeche,  and  in  Melle,  in  the  ninth  century,  and 
vestiges  of  ancient  works  have  been  discovered  at  other 
places  which  are  attributed  to  this  period.  In  975  the 
Bishop  of  Toul  reserved  to  himself  the  tithes  of  the  silver 

1  Hunt,  British  Mining,  p.  129.  2  Id.  p.  166. 


LEAD  MINES  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.        51 

mines  in  a  grant  to  the  church  of  Diez.  The  mines  in  the 
department  of  Aveyron  are  said  to  have  been  reopened  in 
the  tenth  century  and  worked  by  miners  brought  from 
foreign  countries.  In  997  and  1120  grants  were  made  to 
mine  for  silver,  showing  that  mining  operations  were  prose- 
cuted at  that  period.  According  to  Leger  a  revival  of 
mining  in  France  took  place  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries  in  sympathy  with  the  general  rise  of  material 
progress  throughout  the  world.  Mining  companies  were 
formed,  and  many  works  undertaken  in  the  Yosges  and 
Pyrenees,  in  Beam,  Auvergne,  and  in  other  districts,  but 
during  the  fourteenth  century  mining  operations  were 
generally  suspended,  owing  to  the  wars  and  to  the  exorbi- 
tant demands  of  the  great  nobles,  owners  of  the  land,  — who 
claimed  ten  and  frequently  twenty  per  cent  of  the  produc- 
tion as  rent,  —  and  to  the  want  of  proper  appliances  for  pro- 
viding ventilation,  and  for  reducing  the  water  in  the 
mines.1 

The  mines  of  L'Argentiere,  in  the  Alps,  worked  by  the 
Romans,  are  said  to  have  been  reopened  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. In  the  thirteenth  century  France  produced  articles 
of  prime  necessity  and  of  common  use,  but  the  raw  materi- 
als were  generally  procured  from  abroad.  English  vessels 
brought  to  Bayonne  and  Bordeaux  herrings,  tin,  and  lead. 
Rouen  had  in  the  previous  century  a  monopoly  of  the  wine 
trade,  exchanging  this  commodity  with  the  English  for  lead 
and  copper.  In  the  thirteenth  century  the  argentiferous 
lead  deposits  in  Dauphine,  Vivarais,  Savoy,  Auvergne,  and 
in  the  Pyrenees,  were  worked  to  a  limited  extent. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  Louis  XI.  encouraged  mining  by 
the  issue  of  several  orders,  by  the  provisions  of  which  a 
Master-General  of  Mines  was  appointed,  whose  powers  ex- 
tended over  all  mines  in  the  kingdom.  Those  who  had 

1  See  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  etc.,  p.  775  ;  also  Daubree,  Aperc.ii 
Historique,  etc. 


52  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

mineral  deposits  on  their  property  were  ordered  to  publicly 
declare  it,  and  to  take  steps  to  exploit  them.  The  King 
abandoned  his  right  to  the  royal  tenth  for  twelve  years, 
and  ordered  this  moiety  divided  between  the  Master- 
General  and  the  owner  of  the  mine,  or  the  chief  miner.1 
The  exhausted  condition  of  France,  however,  together  with 
the  unpopularity  of  the  superstitious  and  base-hearted 
monarch,  prevented  any  considerable  exploitation  of  the 
mines  during  his  reign. 

Malus  states  that  from  the  time  of  Charlemagne  to  that 
of  Gaston  de  Foix  (1500)  there  was  little  or  no  mining  in 
the  Pyrenees,  owing  to  the  vicissitudes  of  the  times,  especi- 
ally severe  upon  the  frontier.2  Gaston  de  Foix,  Due  de 
Nemours,  brother  of  Charles  of  Navarre,  is  said  to  have 
worked  these  mines  to  such  advantage  as  to  enable  him  to 
surpass  all  the  monarchs  of  his  time  in  his  expenditures.3 

The  ancient  mines  at  Sala,  in  Sweden,  are  known  to 
have  been  worked  as  early  as  1280. 

Lead  and  silver  mining  was  prosecuted  in  the  Italian 
Alps  in  the  middle  ages  with  considerable  vigor.  Pied- 
mont and  Modena  are  rich  in  minerals,  while  the  moun- 
tains in  Tuscany  are  traversed  by  veins  of  argentiferous 
lead  ores.  Most  of  these  localities  were  the  scene  of  ex- 
tensive exploitation  in  the  middle  ages,  and  the  numerous 
remains  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  ruins  of  the  Etruscan 
city  of  Luna  —  so  named  on  account  of  the  occurrence  of 
silver  ores  there — attest  the  enterprise  of  its  inhabitants. 
The  mines  in  the  central  and  southern  districts  of  Tuscany 
were  worked  in  the  middle  ages,  and  are  thought  to  have 
been  known  to  the  Etruscans.  The  modern  explorer  may 
count  hundreds  of  ancient  pits  and  ruins  of  furnaces  in 

1  See  H.  Pigeonneau,  Histoire  du  Commerce  de  la  France  (Paris,  1885),  pre- 
miere part,  pp.  73,  421. 

3  Sieur  de  Malus  in  The  Art  of  Metals,  by  A.  Barba. 
3  Jacob,  The  Precious  Metals,  vol.  i.  p.  263. 


LEAD  MINES  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.         53 

the  neighborhood  of  the  Massa  Maritima,  where  many  lead 
mines  were  worked  during  this  period. 

Soon  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Arabs  from  Sardinia  by 
the  Pisans,  in  the  eleventh  century,  the  argentiferous  lead 
mines  were  reopened  and  extensively  worked.  Shafts  were 
sunk  through  the  hard  rock  to  the  depth  of  six  hundred 
feet  by  fire-setting,  and  great  heaps  of  slag  and  scoriae 
attest  the  magnitude  of  the  work.  In  1323  the  island 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Spain,  and  mining  industries  were 
neglected.1 

In  the  fourteenth  century,  if  we  accept  the  statements 
of  Sanuto,  quoted  by  Macpherson,  the  Egyptians  im- 
ported large  quantities  of  the  precious  and  baser  metals 
which  were  needed  for  their  trade  with  the  natives  of 
Ethiopia.  These  commodities  were  supplied  by  the  gal- 
leys of  the  Italians,  who  commanded  the  trade  of  the 
Mediterranean.2 

The  period  from  the  fall  of  Rome  to  the  beginning  of 
the  fifteenth  century  offers  but  little  of  interest  respecting 
mining  and  metallurgy.  The  ignorance  and  barbarous 
superstition  which  prevailed  during  the  early  part  of  the 
middle  ages  yielded  but  slowly  to  the  revival,  which  began 
with  the  crusades  in  the  eleventh  century.  The  rise  of  the 
Italian  cities  was  followed  by  the  increase  in  commercial 
importance  of  Germany,  Holland,  and  of  England;  and 
the  civilized  world  was  finally  ready  for  the  next  great 
event  which  was  to  mark  an  epoch  in  its  commercial 
history.  The  discovery  of  the  continent  of  America  by 
Columbus,  sailing  under  the  flag  of  Spain,  infused  a  spirit 
of  adventure  and  discovery  into  other  European  nations 
whose  inhabitants  depended  for  their  sustenance  partly 
upon  maritime  pursuits,  while  the  enormous  booty  secured 
by  the  conquerors  of  Mexico  and  Peru  roused  the  cupidity 

1  C.  J.  B.  Karotfin,  HyKtcm  dcr  Motallurgie,  Iforlin,  1831. 
3  Mur.phonton,  Annaln  of  Commerce,  vol.  i.  p.  401. 


54  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

of  the  civilized  world ;  and  when  the  aboriginal  inhabitants 
of  conquered  America  had  been  despoiled  of  their  treasures, 
and  no  more  worlds  were  left  to  conquer,  the  adventurers 
turned  to  the  original  source  of  supply,  and  a  period  of 
great  mining  activity  ensued. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

LEAD   MINING  IN  EUROPE,  ASIA,  AFRICA,  AND  AUSTRALIA  IN 
MODERN    TIMES. 

IN  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  encouraged 
by  the  liberal  policy  of  that  wise  sovereign,  interest 
in  mining  operations  in  England  was  revived,  and  grants 
in  great  numbers  were  issued  to  sink  shafts  and  to  search 
for  ores.  Before  this  period  England  for  many  years  had 
depended  almost  entirely  upon  foreign  nations,  especially 
Germany,  for  all  articles  of  iron,  brass,  and  copper,  even 
those  of  the  simplest  character  and  in  most  common  use. 
Mining  had  been  generally  abandoned,  and  the  art  of  work- 
ing in  metals  was  almost  entirely  lost.  Elizabeth,  however, 
in  order  to  recover  the  lost  ground,  invited  to  her  dominions 
miners,  smelters,  and  artisans,  and  absolutely  prohibited 
the  importation  of  metallic  article.  Attempts  had  been 
made  in  previous  reigns  to  encourage  mining  and  metal- 
lurgical industries.  In  1452  King  Henry  granted  safe 
conduct  for  four  years  to  three  skilled  miners  and  thirty 
other  persons  from  Bohemia,  Austria,  and  Hungary,  to  be 
employed  in  his  mines.  At  this  period  the  mines  in  these 
countries  had  been  worked  for  centuries,  and  their  miners 
were  esteemed  the  most  skilled  in  Europe.  In  1484  the 
importation  of  many  articles  of  foreign  manufacture  was 
prohibited  for  a  term  of  years.1  These  expedients  had 

1  Macpherson,  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  i.  pp.  669,  706. 


56 


A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 


failed  to  establish  the  manufacture  of  metallic  articles  in 
the  kingdom ;  but  Elizabeth  followed  up  the  concessions 
above  mentioned;  she  founded  the  "Society  of  Mines 
Royall"  and  the  "Society  for  the  Minerals  and  Battery 
Work,"  and  by  making  liberal  grants  she  encouraged  the 
revival  of  the  metal-working  industry.  Her  vigorous 
policy  soon  bore  fruit,  and  in  a  short  time  the  manufacture 
of  metallic  wares  was  completely  established  in  her  do- 
minions, and  her  artisans  were  enabled  to  supply  her 
people  with  goods  of  domestic  manufacture.1  The  value 
of  lead  in  England  at  this  time  was  about  £8  per  ton.  In 
the  Court  Records  of  the  East  India  Company,  under  date 
Dec.  10,  1600,  among  the  items  of  expense  of  fitting  out 
the  first  squadron  sent  to  the  East  Indies  appear  the  follow- 
ing :  "  Order  is  geaven  to  the  said  Mr  Aldr  Bannyng  to  pay 
to  W™  Waithall  22411  2s  0  for  29  fodder  4C  l*r  16lb  of 
Peate  Lead  bought  at  vij  li  xiij8-  iiijd  the  ff odder."  2 

Among  the  Germans  brought  over  by  Elizabeth  was 
a  smelter  named  Hough  setter,  who  settled  in  Cardigan- 
shire, and  exploited  the  lead  mines  of  that  district  for 
some  years.  His  operations  proving  disastrous  he  aban- 
doned them,  but  his  mines  were  afterwards  worked  deeper, 
and  proved  very  profitable.  So  much  silver  was  recovered 
from  the  argentiferous  lead  ores  that  Mr.  Thomas  Bush  ell, 
who  worked  them,  established  a  mint  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  it  is  said  was  enabled  to  clothe  the  army  of  Charles  I. 
out  of  a  portion  of  his  profits.3  A  writer  visiting  the 
mines  in  1670  says  he  inspected  the  ore-house,  the  old 
mint,  the  stamping  and  refining  mills,  and  the  red  lead 
mills.4 

There  are  no  trustworthy  accounts  of  the  production  of 
lead  in  England  previous  to  1845,  except  the  output  of  the 

1  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  "Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  80. 

2  Henry  Stevens,  The  Dawn  of  British  Trade  in  the  East  Indies  (London, 
1886),  p.  95. 

8  Hunt,  British  Mining,  p.  153.  4  Ibid.,  p.  154. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  EUROPE,  ASIA,  ETC.  57 

mines  at  Alston-Moor,  which  were  granted  to  Greenwich 
Hospital  in  1734.  The  records  of  these  mines  have  been 
preserved  since  1768.  The  statements  of  contemporaneous 
writers  respecting  the  output  of  lead  generally  refer  only 
to  certain  mines  or  districts.  Lead  was  an  important  pro- 
duction and  article  of  commerce  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries.  In  1611  an  impost  of  twenty  shil- 
lings per  ton  was  laid  upon  lead  as  being  one  of  the 
three  staple  commodities  of  the  kingdom.1  Sir  Josiah 
Child  in  his  "Discourses  on  Trade"  says:  "Our  lead  and 
tin,  which  are  natives,  and  by  God's  blessing  inseparably 
annexed  to  this  kingdom,  carry  on  much  of  our  trade  to 
Turkey,  Italy,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  besides  great  quanti- 
ties that  are  sold  to  Holland,  France,  and  to  the  Indies." 
According  to  Pennant,  the  Llangynog  lead  mines,  discovered 
in  1692,  yielded  four  thousand  tons  annually  for  forty 
years.  Lead  sold  at  this  time  at  £7  per  ton.2  In  1708 
there  were  seventeen  smelting  furnaces  and  eight  refining 
furnaces  in  Cardiganshire  and  Glamorganshire ;  and  in 
1703  the  Mines  Royall  Company  ordered  that  "all  refining 
processes  be  kept  secret."  3  In  1765  lead  to  the  amount  of 
one  thousand  five  hundred  to  two  thousand  tons  was  ex- 
ported from  the  Frith  of  Forth  to  Holland,  and  one  thou- 
sand tons  from  Newcastle  and  other  ports.  In  this  year 
lead  sold  at  ,£14  to  £15  per  ton.4  Bishop  Watson  esti- 
mates the  production  of  lead  in  Derbyshire  at  the  date  of 
the  publication  of  the  third  volume  of  his  "Chemical 
Essays  "  (1780)  at  seven  thousand  five  hundred  tons,  and 

1  See  Analytical  Index  to  the  Series  of  Records  known  as  "  The  Remem- 
brancer," preserved  among  the  archives   of  the  City  of  London.     Privately 
printed  for  the  City  of  London,  1878.     According  to  Macpherson,  this  impost 
duty  on  lead,  tin,  wool,  etc.,  amounted  in  1613  to  ,£10,000.     Annals  of  Com- 
merce, vol.  ii.  p.  274. 

2  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  ii.  p.  347. 

8  Col.  Grant-Francis,  Smelting  in  Swansea  District,  etc.  (London,  1881), 
pp.  84,  91. 

4  Macpherson,  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  ii.  p.  345. 


58  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD.  - 

says  that  "fifty  years  ago"  (1730)  the  annual  production 
reached  ten  thousand  tons.  He  was  unable  to  find  any 
trustworthy  records  of  the  quantity  annually  smelted  in 
Great  Britain,  but  estimated  it  at  thirty  thousand  tons.1 
Referring  to  the  trade  of  Chester,  then  an  important  ship- 
ping port  for  the  lead  mines  of  Wales,  Pennant  states  that 
the  exports  in  1771  amounted  to  four  thousand  five  hun- 
dred tons  of  lead  and  seven  hundred  tons  of  lead  ore.  On 
account  of  the  American  war,  in  1776  this  trade  had  fallen 
to  four  thousand  tons  of  lead  and  six  hundred  tons  of  ore. 
From  1758  to  1777 — nineteen  years  —  there  was  entered 
at  the  custom  house  at  Chester  seventy-nine  thousand  five 
hundred  and  thirty-three  tons  of  lead,  twelve  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty  tons  of  lead  ore,  and  two  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  sixty-seven  tons  of  litharge.  This  did 
not  simply  represent  the  product  of  the  Welsh  mines,  since 
a  quantity  of  lead  ore  was  brought  in  from  Scotland.2 
There  were  six  refining  establishments  in  this  district  at 
that  time. 

Lamborn  says  that  in  1810  Great  Britain  produced 
twelve  thousand  five  hundred  tons  of  lead,  which  amount 
exceeded  the  production  of  all  the  rest  of  Europe.3 

The  general  introduction  of  improved  methods  of  min- 
ing, early  in  this  century,  rendered  it  possible  to  reopen  old 
mines,  abandoned  on  account  of  flooding,  and  to  work  them 
deeper,  besides  reducing  the  cost ;  consequently  the  output 
rapidly  increased  until  1845,  when  the  production  of  Great 
Britain  exceeded  forty-six  thousand  tons. 

The  mines  in  Cornwall  were  worked  in  ancient  times; 
but  in  the  eighteenth  century  their  output  was  insignifi- 
cant, and  even  as  late  as  1835  the  total  production  of  this 

1  R  Watson,  D.D.,  F.R.S.,  Chemical  Essays  (5th  edition,  London,  1789, 
5  vols.),  vol.  iii.  p.  316. 

2  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  203. 

8  R.  H.  Lamborn,  Ph.  D.,  The  Metallurgy  of  Silver  and  Lead,  p.  23. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  EUROPE,  ASIA,  ETC.  59 

county  is  placed  at  less  than  two  hundred  tons;  but  in  the 
period  extending  from  1845  to  1851  the  output  reached  ten 
thousand  tons  annually,  gradually  declining  however  to 
five  thousand  tons  in  1864,  and  to  less  than  one  thousand 
in  1879. 

The  increase  in  the  output  of  Great  Britain  continued 
until  1856,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  culminating 
period  of  her  prosperity  in  this  industry,  when  the  produc- 
tion reached  seventy-three  thousand  tons.  The  output 
ranged  from  sixty-three  to  seventy-three  thousand  tons 
until  1873,  when  it  fell  to  fifty-four  thousand.  At  this 
time  the  extraordinary  increase  in  the  production  in  the 
United  States  began  to  be  felt;  besides,  Spain  and  Germany 
increased  their  productions,  and  the  price  of  lead  gradually 
but  steadily  declined.  The  cost  of  mining  increases  as  the 
upper  deposits  are  exhausted ;  so  that  in  later  years,  not- 
withstanding the  adoption  of  improved  methods  in  mining, 
it  is  probable  that  but  little  reduction  has  been  made  in 
England  in  the  cost  of  ore  when  delivered  at  the  pit's 
mouth ;  besides,  the  amount  of  silver  in  the  British  lead 
ores  has  steadily  decreased  since  1871.1  The  fluctuations  in 
the  price  of  lead  have  been  somewhat  remarkable.  Be- 
tween 1800  and  1810  the  average  price  per  ton  in  London 
was  £27  14s.  6d.;  from  1811  to  1821,  £23  6s.  6d. ;  from 
1822  to  1832,  £20  7s.  In  1832  it  fell  as  low  as  £13  10s., 
and  in  1858  the  average  price  was  £21  10s.  In  1873 
the  market  price  was  £23  6s.,  but  it  steadily  declined  to 
£10  5s.  8d.  in  March,  1885,  which  is  the  lowest  price  at 
which  lead  has  been  sold  for  many  years.  It  did  not  long 
remain  at  this  extreme  low  value,  but  advanced,  until  in 
March,  1886,  it  had  reached  £13  6s.  This  enormous 
decline  in  value  had  its  effect  upon  the  mining  interests  of 
Great  Britain.  Hundreds  of  lead  mines  have  been  closed, 
resulting  in  great  distress  among  the  miners.  Sir  Theodore 

1  Hunt,  British  Mining,  p.  836. 


60  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

Martin,  speaking  at  a  meeting  of  lead  miners  in  Wales,  held 
in  support  of  the  conservative  candidate  at  the  election 
in  1885,  said  that  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  lead  mines 
in  Great  Britain  were  closed,  and  forty  thousand  miners 
thrown  out  of  employment  on  account  of  the  competition 
of  Spanish  lead,  the  Spanish  miners  working  for  Is.  2d. 
per  day.  English  lead  ore,  which  sold  for  £14  12s.  6d. 
per  ton  in  1877,  had  fallen  to  £7  3s.  6d.  The  speaker 
insisted  that  something  should  be  done  to  protect  English 
workmen.  The  entire  output  of  Great  Britain  fell  to 
forty-three  thousand  four  hundred  and  nineteen  tons  in 
1883,  to  forty  thousand  and  seventy-five  tons  in  1885,  and 
to  thirty-seven  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-seven  tons 
in  1886. 

Large  quantities  of  ore  and  argentiferous  lead  are  annu- 
ally imported  into  Great  Britain,  principally  from  Spain. 
In  1872  these  imports  amounted  to  nearly  seventy  thou- 
sand tons,  increasing  to  one  hundred  thousand  tons  and 
over  in  1879.  The  export  of  lead  is  large,  amounting  to 
over  forty  thousand  tons  in  1881.  The  home  consumption 
in  Great  Britain  has  ranged  from  eighty-six  thousand  tons 
in  1872  to  about  one  hundred  thousand  tons  in  1881. 

The  argentiferous  lead  of  Spain  was  formerly  desilver- 
ized in  Great  Britain;  but  the  art  of  refining  has  lately 
been  fostered  by  the  Spanish  Government,  and  English 
smelters  have  lost  much  of  the  business.  Hunt  makes  an 
interesting  estimate  of  the  total  production  of  lead  in 
Great  Britain  from  the  earliest  period.  Assuming  the 
mean  annual  output  of  the  lead  mines  at  three  thousand 
tons  the  total  quantity  raised  amounts  to  more  than  seven 
million  tons.1 

Lead  is  found  in  the  Australian  colonies  of  Great  Britain, 
and  has  been  produced  in  limited  yet  increasing  quantities 

1  See  Hunt's  British  Mining  for  elaborate  statistics  and  tables,  showing  pro- 
duction of  the  lead  districts,  prices,  etc.,  in  Great  Britain. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  EUROPE,  ASIA,  ETC.  61 

for  twenty  years  or  more.  Percy  mentions  having  seen  in 
1859  a  quantity  at  the  smelt  ing-works  in  Flintshire.  Dur- 
ing that  year  several  hundred  tons  were  imported.1  The 
product  of  the  Australian  colonies  steadily  increased  until 
1884,  when  seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-nine 
tons  were  brought  to  the  British  smelters. 

A  letter  from  New  South  Wales  to  the  editor  of  the 
"  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal/'  dated  Sept.  30,  1886, 
tells  of  the  discovery  of  an  immense  carbonate  deposit  at 
Broken  Hill,  which  is  three  hundred  and  forty  miles  from 
Adelaide  and  eight  hundred  from  Sydney.  The  ore  is  said 
to  yield  one  hundred  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton  and  twenty- 
six  per  cent  of  lead.  The  extent  of  the  deposit  may  be 
appreciated  perhaps  from  the  statement  of  the  correspond- 
ent of  the  "Journal,"  who  seems  to  be  considered  trust- 
worthy by  the  editor,  and  who  estimates  that  they  have  in 
sight  sixty  million  ounces  of  silver,  and  two  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  tons  of  lead.  Unfortunately  the  mines  are 
remote  from  the  seaboard,  but  efforts  are  being  made  to 
extend  a  railway,  now  in  process  of  construction,  upon  the 
completion  of  which  this  vast  deposit  of  lead  will  compete 
in  the  markets  of  Europe  with  the  produce  of  German, 
Spanish,  and  British  mines.2 

The  wonderful  discoveries  in  America,  and  the  success  of 
the  expeditions  of  Pizarro  and  Cortez  so  occupied  the  at- 
tention of  the  Spaniards,  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors 
from  Spain,  that  little  mining  was  prosecuted  in  their  own 

1  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  p.  430. 

2  The  Australians  have  lately  become  thoroughly  aroused  to  the  importance 
of  their  deposits  of  argentiferous  lead  ores,  and  to  the  necessity  of  reducing  the 
ores,  and  of  refining  and  manufacturing  the  product  in  their  own  dominions, — 
thus  saving  the  cost  of  carriage  of  the  ores  and  bullion  to  England,  and  of  the 
return  of  the  manufactured  product.    A  late  issue  of  one  of  our  mining  jour- 
nals contains  the  important  statement  that  The  Australian  Smelting  and  Kefin- 
ing  Company  has  been  organized  at  Melbourne,  and  that  furnaces  and  refining 
works  will  be  at  once  established  upon  an  extensive  scale.  —  Engineering  and 
Mining  Journal,  New  York,  May  28,  1887. 


62  A   HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

country.  In  1571  the  old  Carthaginian  silver-lead  mine  at 
Guadalcanal,  on  the  borders  of  Seville  and  Cordova,  was 
reopened,  and  exploited  for  some  years,  but  soon  aban- 
doned. Two  Germans,  named  Fugger,  obtained  a  lease  of 
some  mines  of  silver  and  cinnabar,  and  succeeded  in  ac- 
cumulating considerable  wealth,  which  they  safely  conveyed 
to  their  own  country.  In  1690  a  Jew,  Gomez,  made  an 
unsuccessful  mining  venture ;  and  in  1728  an  English- 
woman of  rank,  Lady  Herbert,  undertook  mining  oper- 
ations on  a  large  scale,  but  met  with  disaster.  A  French 
company,  in  1768,  succeeded  in  dissipating  a  large  capital 
in  a  fruitless  endeavor  to  drain  some  old  mines. 

For  many  years  but  little  mining  was  done  in  Spain,  but 
in  1825  a  decree  was  passed  opening  the  Spanish  mines  to 
native  and  foreign  competition,  and  in  a  short  time  no  less 
than  three  thousand  mines,  Lamborn  tells  us,  were  opened 
in  one  district ;  and  the  production  of  lead  increased  to  so 
great  an  extent  as  to  cause  a  depression  in  the  price, 
resulting  in  the  suspension  of  operations  at  many  of  the 
poorer  mines  of  Germany  and  of  England.  The  produc- 
tion of  lead  in  the  mines  of  the  Sierra  de  Gador  Lujar 
reached  forty-two  thousand  tons  in  1827.  The  price  of  the 
metal  was  reduced  so  much  that  mining  was  no  longer 
profitable,  and  in  order  to  raise  the  price  to  a  remunerative 
point,  the  miners  were  obliged  to  reduce  their  work  to  half 
time.  The  superficial  deposits  were  gradually  exhausted, 
and  the  production  rapidly  decreased,  until  1839,  when  the 
deposits  in  the  Sierra  de  Almagrera  were  discovered.  An- 
other period  of  excitement  and  increase  of  production 
followed,  resulting  in  the  opening  of  more  than  eight  hun- 
dred mines,  and  the  establishment  of  thirty-eight  smelting- 
works  in  the  district,  producing,  in  1845,  more  than  eight 
thousand  tons  of  lead.  These  deposits  soon  showed  signs 
of  exhaustion,  and  rapidly  declined  in  importance ;  when 
the  ancient  mines  in  the  district  of  Linares  were  reopened 


LEAD  MINING  IN  EUROPE,  ASIA,  ETC.  63 

by  English  capitalists,  and,  by  improved  methods  of  min- 
ing, this  has  been  made  one  of  the  most  important  lead 
producing  districts  in  the  world.  A  most  extraordinary 
development  in  lead  mining  occurred  in  the  province  of 
Murcia  in  1857,  if  we  are  to  accept  the  statement  of  Con- 
sul Williams,  who  says  that  one  thousand  two  hundred 
mines  were  exploited  in  that  year.  In  Almeria  two 
hundred  mines  were  worked  in  1860.  Mining  for  lead  is 
also  extensively  conducted  in  Teruel,  Belmonte,  La  Selva, 
and  the  Cantabrian  provinces.  Percy  places  the  produc- 
tion of  lead  in  Spain  in  1866  at  sixty-six  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  three  tons.  According  to  the-  Report  of 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  the  export  of  lead 
from  Spain,  including  ore  and  base  bullion  reduced  to  lead, 
in  1878  amounted  to  ninety  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
forty-two  tons,  rising  to  one  hundred  and  thirty-live  thou- 
sand six  hundred  and  ninety-one  tons  in  1883,  but  declining 
to  one  hundred  and  nine  thousand  and  fourteen  tons  in 
1885.  To  these  amounts  the  domestic  consumption  must 
be  added  to  arrive  at  the  total  output.  These  statistics 
are  not  altogether  trustworthy ;  but  Spain  at  the  present 
time  probably  stands  second  in  the  list  of  the  lead  produc- 
ing countries  of  the  world,  —  and  possibly  the  first,  her  only 
rival  being  the  United  States,  whose  output  this  year  may 
be  less  than  the  production  of  Spain.1 

Ancient  Lusitania  has  produced  an  insignificant  amount 
of  lead  in  modern  times.  Consul  Williams  estimates 
the  production  of  Portugal  in  1857  at  no  more  than  six 
hundred  tons.2 

1  See  Lamborn,  The  Metallurgy  of  Silver  and  Lead,  pp.  20,  21  ;  Percy,  The 
Metallurgy  of  Lead,  pp.  247,  499  ;   Jacob,  The  Precious  Metals,  vol.  i.  p.  280 ; 
Albert  Williams,  Jr.,  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States  (Washington, 
1886),  p.  266;  J.  D.  Whitney,  The   Metallic  Wealth  of  the  United   States 
(Philadelphia,  1854),  p.  377;  United  States  Consular  Report,  No.  75  (Washing- 
ton, 1887)  ;  Report  of  Consul  Williams,  p.  568. 

2  United  States  Consular  Report,  No.   75  (Washington,   1887)  ;  Report  of 
Consul  Williams,  p.  570. 


64  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

Germany  is  now  the  second  country  in  Europe  in  the 
production  of  lead.  Her  mines  in  Saxony,  Silesia,  and  in 
the  Harz  were  reopened  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  cen- 
turies, and  have  been  exploited  with  little  intermission  ever 
since.  Keference  has  been  made  to  the  fostering  care 
exercised  by  that  nation  over  the  arts  of  mining  and 
metallurgy,  and  the  superiority  of  German  methods  was 
evidenced  as  early  as  the  sixteenth  century  by  the  intro- 
duction of  German  miners  and  workers  of  metal  into 
England  by  Elizabeth,  and  into  France  to  work  the  aban- 
doned mines  of  those  countries.  There  appeared  in  the 
sixteenth  century  the  exhaustive  and  elaborate  work  of 
George  Agricola,  a  German  scientist,  who  has  been  aptly 
styled  the  "  father  of  modern  mining-engineering ; "  and 
in  the  next  century  the  German  brothers  Fugger  suc- 
cessfully worked  the  abandoned  mines  of  Spain.  The 
German  technical  schools  have  of  late  years  produced 
an  army  of  able  engineers,  who,  provided  with  modern 
appliances,  and  exercising  a  rigid  and  intelligent  economy, 
have  made  the  great  German  mines  and  smelting-works 
examples  of  the  refinements  of  the  arts  of  mining  and 
metallurgy. 

The  principal  seats  of  lead  production  in  Germany  to- 
day are  the  Khenish  provinces,  Silesia,  the  Harz  mountains, 
Nassau,  and  Freiberg  in  Saxony.  The  works  of  the  Harz 
and  Freiberg  are  government  property;1  the  other  mines 
are  generally  exploited  by  great  corporations,  who  conduct 
their  operations  upon  an  enormous  scale.  The  production 
of  the  German  States  in  1852  is  estimated  by  Williams  at 
fifteen  to  twenty  thousand  tons.  It  gradually  increased  to 
thirty  to  thirty-five  thousand  tons  in  1861,  to  forty-nine 
thousand  in  1867,  and  to  seventy-two  thousand  tons  in 
1874.  The  increase  continued  uninterruptedly  from  1875, 

1  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  p.  499  ;  Williams,  the  Mineral  Resources 
of  the  United  States,  1885  and  1886. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  EUROPE,  ASIA,  ETC.  65 

when  seventy  thousand  tons  were  produced ;  to  1885, 
when  the  total  output  was  ninety-two  thousand  four  hun- 
dred and  eighty-five  tons,  —  one  company,  the  Mechernich, 
producing  no  less  than  twenty-three  thousand  four  hundred 
and  eighty  tons.1 

The  discovery  of  America,  and  the  booty  secured  by  the 
Spanish  conquerors  of  Peru  and  Mexico,  directed  the  atten- 
tion of  the  French  people  to  their  own  stores  of  mineral 
wealth.  Vestiges  of  ancient  works  were  abundant  in 
many  districts,  and  it  was  thought  to  be  only  necessary  to 
reopen  the  abandoned  mines  to  secure  the  coveted  treasure. 
A  period  of  great  activity  in  mining  work  was  entered 
upon.  Mines  were  exploited  in  many  districts,  and  new 
and  improved  methods  were  introduced.  The  principal 
seats  of  mining  enterprises  at  this  epoch  were  in  Bretagne, 
La  Croix  aux  Mines,  in  the  Yosges,  Sainte  Marie  aux 
Mines,  and  Giromagny ; 2  but  the  results  did  not  realize  the 
expectations  of  the  projectors,  and  operations  were  gradu- 
ally abandoned.  During  the  time  of  the  republic  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety  ordered  an  investigation  of  the 
mines  of  France,  preparatory  to  the  reopening  of  old  and 
abandoned  mines  and  the  search  for  new  deposits.  Traces 
of  ancient  lead  mines  were  found  in  many  of  the  depart- 
ments, but  the  work  had  been  generally  of  a  superficial 
character,  and  the  ancient  miners,  by  utilizing  only  the 
surface  ores,  had  largely  destroyed  the  usual  indications. 
The  report  states  that  at  that  time  — 1792  —  the  only  lead 
ore  mined  was  sold  to  the  potters  as  alquifoux  for  glazing 
their  wares,  and  that  none  was  reduced  to  the  metallic 
state.3  Pomet,  writing  about  a  hundred  years  earlier4  — 

1  See  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  p.  499  ;. also  Williams,  The  Mineral 
Resources  of  the  United  States  (for  1885  and  1886),  from  which  the  facts 
relating  to  modern  works  have  been  principally  drawn. 

2  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  p.  775. 

8  Journal  des  Mines  (Paris,  1792),  vol.  i. 
4  Pomet,  History  of  Druggs,  vol.  ii.  p.  351. 

5 


66  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

1694  —  says:  "Lead  ore  has  no  other  use  in  France  but 
for  the  potters." 

Thus  it  appears  that  during  the  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth centuries  there  was  little  or  no  mining  of  lead  in 
France,  and  the  production  from  her  own  ores  to-day  is 
comparatively  insignificant.  There  are  numerous  and  ex- 
tensive lodes  in  the  Vosges  which  have  been  opened  for 
centuries,  but  owing  to  the  adoption  of  an  unwise  policy, 
they  have  been  generally  abandoned.  The  only  mine  of 
any  importance  now  being  worked  is  that  of  the  Ponti- 
gibaud  Company,  an  English  corporation,  working  the  lead 
mines  in  Auvergne. 

France  does  a  large  business  in  desilverizing,  importing 
argentiferous  ores  and  lead  from  Spain  and  Greece.1 

In  1720  the  House  of  Savoy  became  possessors  of  the 
Island  of  Sardinia,  and  upon  the  accession  of  Victor 
Emanuel  II.,  the  late  King  of  Italy,  mining  operations 
were  revived  and  pushed  with  great  energy.  The  Sar- 
dinian mines  are  the  principal  sources  of  the  lead  produced 
in  Italy  to-day.  Percy  estimates  the  output  of  Sardinia  in 
1867  at  twenty-three  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-five 
tons,  basing  his  estimates  upon  the  returns  of  lead  ore  ex- 
ported. Williams  makes  the  production  of  Italy  in  1885 
about  fifteen  thousand  tons,  mostly  refined  at  the  works  at 
Pertusola.2 

Belgium  has  been  a  lead-producing  country  for  many 
centuries,  though  never  on  a  large  scale.  In  1867  her 
output  has  been  placed  at  ten  thousand  three  hundred  and 
fifty-two  tons,  and  in  1870  it  was  estimated  at  ten  thousand 
tons,  principally  from  her  own  ores;  but  her  output  has 
gradually  declined,  and  in  1883,  although  eight  thousand 

1  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  p.  338  ;  Williams,  The  Mineral  Kesources 
of  the  United  States  (1885),  p.  439  ;  see  also  Karsten,  System  der  Metallurgie. 

2  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  p.  499 ;  see  Karsten,  System  der  Metal- 
lurgie, Berlin,  1837  ;  also  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States  (Washington, 
1886),  p.  270. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  EUROPE,  ASIA,  ETC.  67 

tons  of  lead  were  smelted,  the  amount  produced  from  her 
own  ores  was  insignificant. 

Austria  and  Hungary  have  also  produced  lead  for  many 
centuries,  but  never  in  very  large  quantities.  The  mines 
at  Bleiberg,  near  Villach,  in  Carinthia,  have  been  cele- 
brated for  the  extreme  purity  of  their  products.  Next  in 
importance  are  the  mines  of  Przibram  in  Bohemia.  The 
output  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  mines  in  1867  was  seven 
thousand  six  hundred  tons,  rising  to  about  ten  thousand 
tons  in  1879,  and  to  thirteen  thousand  tons  in  1883. 

The  old  Laurium  mines  in  Greece  were  reopened  in  1863 
by  a  French  company  under  a  contract  with  the  Grecian 
government.  The  old  slag  and  scoriae  left  by  the  ancient 
miners  were  reworked,  and  the  product,  together  with  the 
output  of  the  mines,  is  shipped  to  France  and  to  England 
for  refining.  The  total  output  for  1881  amounted  to  ten 
thousand  tons.  It  was  probably  greater  in  1869,  as  during 
that  year  no  less  then  eight  thousand  four  hundred  and 
eighty-three  tons  found  a  market  in  Great  Britain  alone.1 
The  product  in  1883  is  estimated  at  about  ten  thousand 
tons. 

In  Norway  and  Sweden  lead  has  been  mined  in  modern 
times  in  limited  quantities,  but  insufficient  to  supply  the 
wants  of  those  countries.  The  product  may  therefore  be 
considered  as  unimportant. 

The  mineral  resources  of  Turkey  are  abundant,  but  min- 
ing and  metallurgy  have  received  but  little  encouragement 
in  that  country.  The  argentiferous  lead  ores  were  worked 
by  the  ancients,  but  the  shafts  were  not  extended  below  the 
water  level.  In  Turkey  in  Asia  some  argentiferous  lead  is 
produced,  which  was  formerly  cupelled  at  the  mines.  It 
is  now  desilverized  at  the  mint  in  Constantinople,  but  it 
is  inconsiderable  in  amount.2 

1  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  p.  499* 

3  See  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1885,  1886. 


68  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

The  argentiferous  lead  ores  in  the  Eussian  Empire  have 
been  exploited  in  modern  times  to  a  limited  extent.  The 
principal  mines  are  in  the  Altai  and  Nertschinsk  districts. 
In  the  Caucasus  and  in  the  Urals  there  are  many  deposits, 
some  of  which  have  been  worked,  producing  lead  in 
inconsiderable  quantities.  The  latest  statistics  place  the 
product  of  the  Russian  mines  at  one  thousand  one  hundred 
tons  in  1876,  rising  to  one  thousand  four  hundred  tons 
in  1878,  but  gradually  declining  until  1882,  when  the 
output  is  placed  at  only  five  hundred  and  seventy-three 
tons.1 

Japan  is  rich  in  mineral  wealth.  Mining  was  prose- 
cuted in  several  districts  of  that  country  as  early  as 
the  eighth  century.  The  remains  of  ancient  works  give 
evidence  of  liberal  enterprise  in  their  construction  and 
operation,  and  thus  point  to  a  former  flourishing  con- 
dition of  the  mining  industry.  A  draining-level,  eight 
thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy  feet  in  length,  was 
constructed  to  reduce  the  water  in  the  lead  mines  of  Ho- 
sakura.  At  the  time  of  Pumpelly's  visit  to  the  mines 
of  Japan  but  little  work  was  being  prosecuted.  He 
visited  the  lead  mines  at  Yurup,  in  the  valley  of  the 
river  of  the  same  name,  and  at  Ichinowatari,  in  the 
Island  of  Yesso.  The  absence  of  pumping  apparatus  to 
reduce  the  water  prevented  working  at  any  considerable 
depth ;  the  galleries  are  small,  but  well  timbered,  and 
until  the  introduction  of  the  use  of  gunpowder  by  Pum- 
pelly  the  only  method  practised  of  drifting  through  the 
rock  was  "by  means  of  the  hammer,  pick,  and  gad."  The 
ore  is  galena.  It  is  powdered  by  means  of  stamps  acting 
in  stone-mortars  and  worked  by  a  water-wheel.  After 
being  stamped  the  ore  is  washed  and  concentrated,  this 
work  being  principally  performed  by  women.2 

1  See  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1886. 

2  R.  Pumpelly,  Across  America  and  Asia  (New  York,  1871),  p.  145. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  EUROPE,  ASIA,  ETC.  69 

In  China  lead  occurs  in  many  provinces,1  but  as  it  is  im- 
ported in  large  quantities  the  production  is  probably  unim- 
portant. The  Chinese  Government  has  recently  granted 
permission  to  work  the  mines  in  the  province  of  Canton, 
and  an  enterprising  native  has  leased  a  silver-lead  mine  at 
Tamchow,  and  has  begun  the  exploitation  of  the  deposits 
on  the  Island  of  Lantao,  near  the  city  of  Hong  Kong.  Mr. 
Consul  Withers  pronounces  the  galena  exposed  in  the 
preliminary  workings  to  be  of  good  character.2 

Lead  is  found  in  considerable  quantities  in  Corea,  and 
some  mining  is  done  by  the  natives,  —  no  less  than  seven 
mines  being  worked  at  the  date  of  the  report  of  Ensign 
Foulk  to  the  State  Department.  The  country  is  believed 
by  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  to  be  rich  in  minerals,  but  the 
government  and  people  are  unwilling  to  grant  mining 
privileges  to  foreigners,  and  appear  to  be  incapable 
of  conducting  extensive  mining  and  smelting  operations 
themselves.3 

The  ores  of  lead  exist  in  considerable  quantities  in  South 
Africa,  and  there  are  evidences  in  many  places  of  mining 
by  the  natives.  The  exploitation  is  unimportant.  The 
only  notice  found  mentions  one  deposit,  worked  by  an 
Englishman,  who  smelts  the  ore  and  supplies  the  local 
demand  for  ammunition. 

Lead  has  been  mined  in  Europe,  and  parts  of  Asia  and  of 
Africa  from  the  earliest  period  of  written  history,  and  the 
supply,  far  from  being  exhausted,  has  furnished  vastly  in- 
creased quantities  during  the  past  half-century.  Exten- 
sive as  is  the  area  which  has  been  examined  and  exploited 
there  is  little  doubt  of  the  existence  of  vast  virgin  deposits 

1  R.  Pumpelly,  Geological  Researches  in  China,  etc.  (Washington,  1866), 
p.  80  et  seq. 

2  United  States  Consular  Report,  No.  65 ;  Report  of  Consul  R.  E.  Withers 
(Washington,  1886),  p.  259. 

8  George  C.  Foulk,  Ensign  United  States  Navy,  Report  to  State  Department ; 
Consular  Report,  No.  65  (Washington,  1886),  p.  252  et  seq. 


70  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

in  the  mountains  of  Central  Asia  and  Africa.  The  con- 
quest of  the  comparatively  unexplored  portions  of  these 
continents  by  civilized  nations,  with  the  inevitable  con- 
struction of  railways  and  other  improvements  in  means  of 
communication  and  of  transportation,  will,  doubtless,  open 
up  sources  of  supply  now  entirely  unknown. 


CHAPTER    V. 

LEAD   MINING  IN   AMERICA. 

THE  glowing  accounts  of  the  early  voyagers  to  the  New 
World  of  the  wonderful  fertility  of  the  soil  and  the 
mildness  and  salubrity  of  the  climate  inspired  the  London 
Company,  the  promoters  of  the  settlement  in  Virginia, 
with  the  belief  that  a  flourishing  empire  could  be  estab- 
lished there,  which  would  not  only  immediately  repay 
them  for  their  outlay,  but  bring  rich  rewards  for  their 
enterprise.  The  belief  in  the  existence  of  the  precious 
metals  in  the  country  was  universal,  and  it  was  thought 
that  only  colonization  and  exploration  were  needed  to  dis- 
close and  to  secure  untold  riches.  The  immense  wealth 
gained  by  Spain  from  her  conquests  in  Peru  and  Mexico 
stimulated  adventurers  of  other  European  nations  to  seek 
their  fortunes  beyond  the  sea.  This  greed  for  gold  and 
belief  in  its  attainment  with  little  exertion  assisted  in  no 
small  degree  the  efforts  of  the  London  Company  in  securing 
settlers  for  their  colony  in  Virginia.  Writers  of  the  period 
complain  of  the  character  of  some  of  the  early  colonists. 
They  constantly  mention  the  lack  of  mechanics  and  work- 
ing men.  Needy  adventurers,  gentlemen  out  at  elbows, 
broken  merchants,  and  young  men  of  more  than  question- 
able reputation,  constituted  a  majority  of  the  settlers. 
The  charter  of  the  colony,  in  conformity  with  the  uni- 
versal belief  in  the  existence  of  the  precious  metals,  con- 
tained provisions  by  the  terms  of  which  one-fifth  of  all 


72  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

gold  and  silver,  and  one-fifteenth  of  all  copper  was  reserved 
to  the  crown. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  second  year  of  the  life  of  the 
colony  the  managers  of  the  company  in  London,  having 
become  impatient  at  the  slow  returns  from  their  venture, 
imperatively  demanded  that  a  lump  of  gold  be  sent  to 
them  forthwith,  on  penalty  of  the  abandonment  of  the 
colony. 

The  occurrence  of  shining  particles  in  the  soil,  near 
Jamestown,  was  believed  by  some  to  indicate  the  presence 
of  gold.  They  accordingly  abandoned  their  useful  occupa- 
tions, filled  a  ship  with  the  worthless  dirt,  and  sent  it  to 
England. 

Gold  and  silver  were  not  found  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  settlement,  but  excellent  iron  ore  abounded,  and  was  dis- 
covered at  an  early  date.  No  attempt  to  smelt  this  ore  in 
a  large  way  was  made  until  the  year  1620,  when  a  furnace 
was  erected  at  Falling  Creek,  not  far  from  Jamestown. 
The  next  year  the  company  sent  out  John  Berkeley  to  take 
charge  of  the  iron  works.  Berkeley  was  accompanied  by 
his  son  and  by  twenty  workmen  skilled  in  mining  and 
working  metals.  He  assumed  at  once  the  direction  of  the 
works  at  Falling  Creek.  In  May  of  the  next  year  the 
entire  settlement,  of  more  than  three  hundred  persons, 
with  the  exception  of  two  children,  who  contrived  to  hide 
from  the  savages,  was  cut  off  and  massacred  by  the  Indians, 
and  the  furnaces  and  other  improvements  were  utterly 
destroyed.  The  superintendent  of  the  works,  in  his  ex- 
plorations in  the  neighborhood,  had  discovered  a  vein 
of  galena,  and  had  privately  worked  it  in  a  small  way, 
supplying  the  demand  of  his  neighbors  for  bullets  and 
shot.1  His  cupidity  and  greed  prompted  him  to  conceal 

1  The  operations  of  this  superintendent  embraced  the  first  mining  and  smelt- 
ing of  lead  in  America.  BISHOP  :  History  of  American  Manufactures  (Phila- 
delphia, 1866),  vol.  i.  p.  26. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  73 

the  location  of  the  vein,  and  when  he  was  killed  his  secret 
died  with  him.  The  Indians  very  well  understood  the 
importance  of  this  metal  to  the  settlers,  and  would  not 
disclose  the  location  of  the  deposit;  but  some  years  later 
Colonel  Boyd  induced  an  Indian  to  reveal  its  position. 
The  settlers  at  once  took  possession  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  supplied  their  needs  from  the  mine  for  many  years. 
Work  has  been  done  on  this  vein  at  intervals  until  com- 
paratively recent  times. 

In  the  Dutch  colony,  at  New  Netherlands,  by  the  terms 
of  the  charter  under  which  the  settlements  were  ex- 
tended, all  minerals  were  the  special  property  of  the 
Patroons.  In  1646  a  new  charter  was  granted,  by  the 
terms  of  which  the  colonist  who  discovered  minerals 
had  the  sole  right  to  mine  them  for  ten  years,  with- 
out the  payment  of  any  duty  or  royalty.  Specimens 
of  minerals  found  in  the  colony  were  sent  to  Amster- 
dam at  an  early  date,  and  the  home  company  directed 
the  governor  of  the  colony  to  equip  and  send  out 
exploring  parties  in  search  of  minerals.  A  company 
of  German  miners  were  sent  out  to  the  colony  about 
1730  by  Baron  Horsenclaver.  These  miners  explored 
the  district  of  the  Highlands,  and  made  many  ventures 
in  mining  and  smelting.  This  company,  or  other  German 
miners,  worked  a  vein  of  galena  as  early  as  1740,  near 
Northeast,  in  Dutchess  County,  and  sent  the  ore  to  Bristol, 
England,  and  to  Amsterdam. 

In  1734  Governor  Cosby  announced  a  new  discovery  of 
lead  ore  in  the  colony,  and  sometime  prior  to  1740  a  vein 
of  argentiferous  galena  was  discovered  and  worked  at 
Ancram,  Columbia  County.  Governor  Clinton,  in  1767, 
directed  attention  to  the  existence  of  valuable  veins  of 
lead  ore  in  the  colony,  and  stated  that  the  British  govern- 
ment had  leased  a  mine  of  argentiferous  galena  to  Mr. 
Frederick  Philipse.  A  large  refinery  of  lead  or  of  iron 


74  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

existed  at  Sing  Sing,  prior  to  or  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolution.1 

The  Massachusetts  colonists  were  not  very  sanguine  of 
the  existence  of  the  precious  metals  in  their  domain,  yet 
they  did  not  neglect  to  encourage  manufactures  and  the 
search  for  minerals.  The  failure  to  find  indications  of  the 
noble  metals,  or  perhaps  the  disappointment  occasioned  by 
the  discovery  that  minerals  found  by  some  ignorant  adven- 
turers, and  asserted  to  contain  gold,  proved  to  be  com- 
mon ores  of  iron,  suggested  to  the  Court  of  Assistants,  in 
London,  the  propriety  of  sending  over  experienced  miners 
and  metallurgists  to  explore  the  country  in  a  scientific 
manner.  They  accordingly  engaged  the  services  of  Thomas 
Graves,  "  a  man  experienced  in  iron  workes,  in  Saltworkes, 
in  measuring  and  surveying  of  lands,  and  in  fortifications, 
in  lead,  copper,  and  alum  mynes,"  to  visit  the  Massachu- 
setts colony,  "  and  to  exercise  his  scientific  qualifications." 
In  a  report  made  in  1632  on  the  minerals  of  New  England, 
lead  ore  and  red-lead  are  mentioned.2 

A  vein  of  argentiferous  galena  w'as  known  to  exist 
at  Southampton,  Mass.,  as  early  as  1754,  and,  according 
to  Bishop,  lead  was  mined  at  Worcester  in  the  same 
year.3  The  deposit  at  Southampton  was  worked  by  a 
company  from  Connecticut  in  1765,  and  "masses  of  ore 
weighing  as  much  as  two  hundred  pounds  were  taken 
out."4 

John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  son  of  Governor  Winthrop,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, was  commissioned  in  1643  by  Lord  Saye  and 
Sele  and  Lord  Brooke  to  build  a  fort  in  Connecticut.  In 
that  year  he  received  a  grant  of  land  for  a  settlement  and 
for  the  erection  of  iron-works,  and  about  the  same  time 

1  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  vol.  i.  pp.  527,  533. 

2  See  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  vol.  i.  p.  470. 
8  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  vol.  i.  p.  493. 

4  Whitney,  Metallic  Wealth  of  the  United  States,  p.  390. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  75 

was  granted  the  hill  at  Tantonsq,  "  where  the  blacke  leade 
is."  In  1645  he  resided  at  Pequod  (New  London);  and  in 
1651,  at  his  suggestion,  the  Assembly  of  Connecticut  passed 
an  act  for  the  encouragement  of  the  search  for  ores  and 
the  development  of  the  mineral  resources  of  the  colony. 
The  preamble  of  this  act  is  as  follows :  "  Whereas  in  this 
rocky  country,  among  these  mountainous  and  rocky  hills, 
there  are  probabilities  of  mines  of  metals,  the  discovery  of 
which  may  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  country  in  raising 
a  staple  commodity ;  and,  whereas,  John  Winthrop,  Esqr., 
doth  intend  to  be  at  charge  and  adventure  for  the  search 
and  the  discovery  of  such  mines  and  minerals :  for  the 
encouragement  thereof,  and  of  any  that  shall  adventure 
with  the  said  John  Winthrop,  Esqr.,  in  the  said  business,  it 
is  ordered,"  etc.  The  act  granted  to  Winthrop  the  lands, 
wood,  timber,  and  water  within  two  or  three  miles  of  any 
mines  of  lead,  copper,  tin,  antimony,  vitriol,  black-lead, 
alum,  etc.  There  are  no  records  of  the  result  of  Win- 
throp's  operations  ;  but  the  lead  deposits  near  Middletown 
were  afterwards  specially  granted  to  him,  and  vestiges  of 
ancient  mining  there  indicate  that  they  were  worked  many 
years  prior  to  the  Revolution.  In  1663  the  General  Court 
ordered  that  any  person  who  would  undertake  the  dis- 
covery of  any  mines  or  minerals,  and  purchase  them  for 
the  country,  should  be  honorably  rewarded  "  out  of  what 
he  did  discover."  l 

The  existence  of  metalliferous  deposits  in  Pennsylvania 
was  known  at  the  time  of  the  Swedish  settlement  on  the 
Delaware  under  Printz,  and  extensive  explorations,  and 
perhaps  mining,  were  prosecuted  in  the  neighboring  moun- 
tains. In  the  Bald  Eagle,  or  Sinking  Spring,  valley,  in 
Huntingdon  County,  lead  mining  operations  were  conducted 

1  J.  G.  Palfrey,  History  of  New  England  (Boston,  1859,  3  vols.),  vol.  ii. 
p.  233  et  seq.;  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  vol.  i.  505 ;  Whitney, 
The  Metallic  Wealth  of  the  United  States,  393. 


76  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

in  early  times,  possibly  by  the  French,  in  their  search  for 
the  precious  metals,  or  by  the  early  settlers. 

Lead  was  known  to  exist  in  Maryland,  near  Union- 
ville,  prior  to  the  Revolution,  but  there  are  no  records  of 
its  exploitation. 

Shortly  after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  with  the  mother- 
country  the  attention  of  Congress  was  directed  to  the 
necessity  of  providing  prompt  and  efficient  supplies  of 
ammunition  to  the  Continental  troops.  The  Committee  of 
Public  Safety  urged  the  local  governments  of  the  colonies 
to  encourage  manufacturing  enterprises,  the  search  for 
ores,  and  the  mining  and  smelting  of  lead.  In  1775  a 
committee  in  South  Carolina  offered  rewards  and  assistance 
to  those  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  military  supplies. 
Among  other  rewards  offered  was  one  of  £500  to  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  first  works  for  manufacturing  or  smelting 
lead,  to  be  paid  so  soon  as  one  thousand  pounds  was  pro- 
duced; £200  were  to  be  paid  to  the  second,  and  £100  to 
the  third  establishment  when  they  had  produced  an  equal 
quantity.1 

The  mines  at  Northeast,  in  Dutchess  County,  New  York, 
which  had  been  abandoned,  were  reopened  during  the 
Revolution  by  Peter  McDaniels,  who  was  encouraged  by 
the  Committee  of  Public  Safety.  These  mines  were  again 
abandoned  at  the  close  of  the  war.  In  December,  1775,  a 
loan  of  £200  was  granted  to  Frederick  Gaunt  to  assist  in 
working  a  lead  mine  near  the  Fredericktown  mountains 
in  Maryland.  In  Connecticut^  at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities, 
mining  was  being  prosecuted  at  the  Middletown  deposits, 
and  at  the  request  of  the  Committee  of  Congress  the 
Assembly  promptly  appointed  a  committee,  who  were 
authorized  to  purchase  the  ore  already  raised,  and  to 
encourage  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  work.  The  com- 
mittee sent  to  other  colonies  for  a  person  skilled  in  smelting 

1  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  77 

and  refining,  and  found  a  German  named  Fedaband.  They 
were  unsuccessful  in  securing  his  services,  as  it  proved  he 
was  under  a  pledge  to  the  King  not  to  refine  metals  in 
America.  A  refiner  and  smelter  was  afterwards  found 
and  engaged.  At  Fincastle,  Virginia,  and  on  the  Great 
Kanawha,  lead  mines  were  worked  during  the  Revolution. 
The  produce  of  these  mines  was  extremely  limited,  not 
exceeding  twenty-five  tons  per  annum.  In  1778  Colonel 
Roberdeau  erected  a  fort  near  the  Sinking  Spring  Valley 
mines  in  Pennsylvania,  and  mined  and  smelted  lead  for  the 
State.  The  flooding  of  the  mines  and  the  persistent  hostil- 
ity of  the  Indians  soon  caused  the  work  to  be  abandoned.1 
In  October,  1777,  the  Board  of  War  was  instructed  by 
Congress  to  urge  upon  the  government  of  New  York  the 
importance  of  working  the  lead  mines  in  that  colony. 
"During  the  scarcity  of  lead  in  1778,"  Bishop  says, 
"  General  Armstrong  informed  President  Wharton,  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Assembly,  that  Mr.  Husbands,  a  member  of 
the  Assembly,  had  knowledge  of  a  mine  of  lead  near 
Frankstown,  on  land  formerly  surveyed  for  the  Penn 
family."2 

Operations  at  the  mine  in  Southampton,  Mass.,  were 
abandoned  during  the  Revolution.  Work  was  resumed  in 
1809,  but  as  it  progressed  the  hopes  of  the  projectors  that 
the  vein  would  open  out  into  paying  ore  gradually  faded, 
and  in  1828  work  was  again  suspended.  In  1815  Professor 

1  See  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  vol.  i.  p.  565  et  seq. 

2  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  vol.  ii.  p.  328.      As  the  war 
progressed  the   supplies  of   lead    became   exhausted,   and   the  production   of 
the  mines  proving  entirely  inadequate,  the  Continental  troops  were  driven 
to   such  straits  for  want  of  metal  for  their  bullets  that  recourse  was  had  to 
domestic  articles   of  pewter,  which  were   contributed    by  patriotic   citizens  ; 
these  with  the  leaden  gutters  from  the  houses  were  melted  up.     There  is  a 
tradition  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  that  the  pewter  organ-pipes  of  the  old  church 
and  the  leaden   coat-of-arms  from  the  table  grave-stones  in  the  old  church- 
yard were  melted  and  cast  into  bullets  for  the  Continental  troops  during  the 
siege  of  Boston. 


78  A   HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

Silliman  says  of  this  mine :  "  The  lead  mine  at  Southamp- 
ton is  becoming  an  object  of  considerable  curiosity  and 
importance ;  whether  it  will  be  profitable  to  pursue  it  is 
doubtful.  The  level  has  already  been  the  work  of  four 
years,  and  two  more  will  be  required  to  complete  it." l 
Work  was  again  resumed  here  in  1862,  and  prosecuted  for 
some  months  with  considerable  energy;  although  large 
sums  were  expended  in  sinking  shafts  and  in  drifting,  ore 
in  paying  quantities  was  not  found.  There  are  several 
veins  of  galena  in  the  neighborhood  of  Southampton,  but 
none  of  sufficient  promise  to  warrant  the  cost  of  opening 
them. 

Lead  ores  occur  in  inconsiderable  quantities  in  Maine,  and 
the  Lubec  lead  mines  were  opened  in  1832  with  unimpor- 
tant results.  In  Vermont  galena  is  found  in  thin  veins  in 
several  places.  In  New  Hampshire  lead  ore  occurs  at 
Shelburne,  where  a  mine  was  opened  in  1846,  and  worked 
until  1849.  The  Eaton  lead  mines  were  opened  in  1826. 
The  ores  of  lead  have  not  been  found  in  these  States  in 
paying  quantities,  and  the  operations  above-mentioned 
resulted  disastrously. 

The  deposits  near  Middletown,  Conn.,  were  reopened  in 
1852  by  the  Middletown  Silver  and  Lead  Mining  Com- 
pany, but  the  enterprise  was  soon  abandoned,  the  results 
being  far  from  satisfactory.  Galena  occurs  in  Brookfield, 
Conn.,  where  a  mine  was  opened  previous  to  1850;  but  the 
deposit,  though  rich  in  quality,  proved  insufficient  in  quan- 
tity to  pay  for  working.  At  Monroe  and  at  Plymouth 
mines  of  lead  were  opened  many  years  since,  but  the  ore 
was  not  found  in  economic  quantities.  Galena  occurs  at 
Canaan,  and  at  several  other  localities  in  the  State. 

The  deposits  of  lead  in  St.  Lawrence  County,  New  York, 
attracted  considerable  attention  fifty  years  ago.  The  Kos- 

1  American  Journal  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  vol.  i.  p.  335. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  79 

sie  mines  were  opened  in  1835  by  two  companies,  —  the 
Rossie  Lead  Mining  Company,  and  the  Rossie  Galena  Com- 
pany. During  1836  and  1837  large  quantities  of  very 
rich  ore  were  taken  out,  yielding  some  two  thousand  one 
hundred  tons  of  lead.  In  1839  the  product  was  but  six 
hundred  tons,  and  in  1840  it  fell  to  two  hundred  tons. 
The  richest  ores  being  already  secured,  and  water  becoming 
troublesome,  the  mines  were  then  abandoned.  In  1852 
work  was  resumed  at  this  locality  by  the  Great  Northern 
Lead  Company,  but  again  abandoned  after  the  capital  of  the 
company  had  been  exhausted  in  clearing  out  the  mine,  and 
before  any  profitable  result  had  been  reached.  Lead  min- 
ing has  been  prosecuted  in  Herkimer,  Sullivan,  Mont- 
gomery, and  Ulster  counties,  and  in  other  localities  in  the 
State,  and  considerable  ore  has  been  obtained;  but  the 
work  has  generally  proved  to  be  unprofitable,  and  mining 
for  lead  has  been  abandoned. 

The  ores  of  lead  occur  in  Montgomery  and  Chester  coun- 
ties, in  Pennsylvania,  and  extensive  exploration  and  de- 
velopment has  been  undertaken  by  several  companies. 
The  results  have  not  been  quite  satisfactory  however,  and 
the  product  has  been  unimportant.  In  1828  a  premium 
was  awarded  at  a  fair  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  Phila- 
delphia, to  S.  P.  Wetherill  &  Co.  for  one  thousand  pigs  of 
lead,  the  produce  of  the  Perkiomen  mine.  In  North  Caro- 
lina a  vein  of  argentiferous  galena  was  discovered  in  1836 
in  Davidson  County,  and  considerable  work  was  done  in 
development.  Mining  operations  were  conducted  at  inter- 
vals until  1852,  but  the  quantity  of  lead  produced  was 
inconsiderable. 

The  lead  deposits  near  Fincastle,  Virginia,  have  been 
worked  from  very  early  times.  The  ore  is  found  dis- 
tributed through  the  clay  and  in  the  rock ;  it  is  argen- 
tiferous, and  yields  about  sixty  per  cent  of  lead.  A  vein 
of  ore  in  Wyethe  County,  on  the  Great  Kanawha,  had 


80  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

been  worked  for  many  years  prior  to  1850.  The  furnace 
was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  The  ore  was  hauled 
to  the  bank  in  wagons,  ferried  across  the  river  in  canoes, 
and  thence  hauled  in  wagons  to  the  furnace.  From  the 
furnace  the  lead  was  transported  in  wagons  one  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  to  the  James  River,  and  thence  by  water 
an  equal  distance  to  a  point  a  short  distance  above  Rich- 
mond. These  mines  were  worked  quite  extensively  during 
the  last  century,  and  furnished  lead  to  many  parts  of  the 
Union.1  Lead  mines  were  also  opened  in  early  days  in 
the  district  between  the  Alleghany  and  Cumberland  moun- 
tains. Lead  occurs  in  many  parts  of  Kentucky,  and 
mining  has  been  carried  on  in  several  districts,  but  the 
explorations  have  so  far  failed  to  disclose  deposits  of 
value.1 

Lead  exists  in  the  mineral  region  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Lake  Superior.  One  vein  in  Canada,  at  Thun- 
der Bay,  has  been  traced  for  a  great  distance.  The 
developments  have  so  far  failed  to  disclose  deposits  of 
lead  of  great  richness,  and  the  production  has  been  un- 
important. 

The  abundance  of  lead  ores  in  Missouri,  Illinois,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  Iowa,  and  the  ease  with  which  the  pure  ores  of  this 
region  are  smelted  would  lead  one  to  suppose  that  lead 
would  be  very  frequently  found  in  the  mounds  of  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants  which  stud  the  broad  bottoms  of 
the  Ohio,  Mississippi,  and  their  tributaries,  in  great  num- 
bers. Such  is  not  the  case  however ;  galena  has  repeatedly 
been  met  with,  and  what  has  been  termed  galena  money 
has  been  found  in  a  few  localities  among  the  Ohio  mounds, 
but  the  metal  is  rarely  found.  Foster  refers  to  a  fractured 
pipe,  found  in  a  mound  in  Wisconsin,  which  had  been 
mended  with  a  ferule  of  lead,  and  a  piece  of  this  metal  is 

1  See  Whitney,  Metallic  Wealth  of  the  United  States,  p.  384  et  seq. ;  also 
Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  p.  564  et  seq. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  81 

said  to  have  been  found  in  a  mound  in  Illinois.1  Bancroft 
thinks  the  mound-builders  were  ignorant  of  the  arts  of 
smelting,  casting,  and  of  welding.2  The  Marquis  de  Nadail- 
lac  is  of  the  opinion  that  there  is  no  conclusive  evidence 
that  the  art  of  smelting  was  understood  by  them.3  Squier 
and  Davis  say,  "  From  the  presence  of  galena  in  the 
mounds  it  seems  almost  impossible  that  the  builders  could 
have  been  ignorant  of  the  manufacture  of  lead ;  "  but  they 
refer  to  one  find  only  of  the  metal,  and  that  under  such 
circumstances  as  to  make  its  origin  and  date  extremely 
doubtful.4  In  reply  to  an  inquiry  upon  this  subject  Prof. 
F.  W.  Putnam,  of  the  Peabody  Museum  of  American 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  writes  as  follows :  "  In  all 
the  explorations  of  mounds  and  ancient  burial-places  in 
America,  which  I  have  made  or  known  about,  I  have  never 
found  evidence  of  the  use  of  lead,  except  in  the  form  of 
crystals  of  galena ;  these  I  have  found  several  times  in  the 
mounds ;  they  evidently  were  collected  simply  as  orna- 
ments, or  on  account  of  their  bright  color  and  other  peculi- 
arities ;  a  few  have  been  slightly  cut.  Of  course,  all  that 
I  have  found  have  been  thickly  coated  with  a  white  oxide. 
There  is  not  the  least  evidence  (in  North  America),  so  far 
as  I  know,  of  lead  having  been  melted  or  smelted,  or  used 
by  melting,  until  after  white  contact.  Our  North  Ameri- 
cans, north  of  Mexico,  were  undoubtedly  acquainted  with 
native  silver,  gold,  copper,  and  iron  (meteoric),  but  there 
is  no  evidence  of  their  working  these  metals  except  by 
hammering." 

1  J.  W.  Foster,  LL.D.,  Pre-historic  Races  of  the  United  States  (Chicago, 
1873),  p.  271. 

2  H.  H.  Bancroft,  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States  (New  York,  1875), 
vol.  iv.  p.  778. 

3  Marquis  de  Nadaillac,  Pre-historic  America,  translated  by  N.  D'Anvers, 
edited  by  W.  H.  Dall  (New  York  and  London,  1884),  p.  181. 

4  Squier  and  Davis,  Ancient  Monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  (New 
York,  1848),  p.  208. 


82 


A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 


The  French  of  Canada,  in  their  explorations  of  the  Great 
West,  discovered  the  copper  deposits  of  Lake  Superior,  and 
their  missionaries,  hearing  of  the  great  river  to  the  west- 
ward, soon  penetrated  to  that  region.  The  expeditions  and 
journeys  of  Marquette,  Joliet,  La  Salle,  and  their  followers, 
up  and  down  the  Mississippi,  must  have  familiarized  the 
Indians — if  they  were  not  already  acquainted  with  them — 
with  the  properties  and  value  of  lead.  Joutel,  in  his  re- 
lation or  journal  of  La  Salle's  last  voyage,  mentions  the 
occurrence  of  lead  in  the  Upper  Mississippi  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  show  that  its  existence  in  the  country  was  well 
known  to  the  French;1  and  it  is  stated  that,  as  early  as 
1690,  the  Indians  occupying  the  district  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  present  town  of  Galena,  sold  lead  of  their 
own  smelting  to  the  traders  at  the  French  trading-post 
where  the  city  of  Peoria  now  stands. 

Nicholas  Perrot,  an  Indian  trader,  and  sometimes  em- 
ployed as  an  Indian  agent  by  the  French  government  in 
Canada,  made  several  journeys  into  the  country  of  the 
Illinois,  and  of  other  tribes,  at  an  early  period,  and  is 
said  to  have  discovered  the  lead  mines  above  the  river 
Des  Moines.  Penicaut,  who  accompanied  Le  Sueur  in  his 
voyage  in  1700  from  New  Orleans  to  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
says,  "These  mines  are  known  to  this  day  by  Perrot's 
name." 2  Le  Sueur,  in  his  narrative  of  his  voyage  to  "  the 
great  copper  mines  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,"  mentions  the 
existence  of  lead  mines  "  on  the  prairie,  about  a  league  in- 
land," and  near  a  little  river  which  he  named  "  Riviere 
a  la  Mine."3  This  river  was  called  by  the  first  settlers 
Riviere  de  Feve,  or  Bean  River,  so  named  on  account  of 

1  B.  F.  French,  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  part  i.  (New 
York,  1846),  p.  186. 

2  B.  F.  French,  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana  and  Florida  (New  Series, 
New  York,  1869),  p.  68. 

3  J.  G.  Shea  ed.  Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi ;  Le  Sueur's 
Voyage  (Albany,  1861),  p.  94. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  83 

the  wild  beans  which  grew  upon  its  banks.  This  name  has 
been  corrupted  into  Fievre,  or  Fever,  River,  by  which  it  is 
known  to-day.  The  French  were  persistent  in  the  belief 
that  gold  and  silver  existed  in  the  country,  but  they  did 
not  altogether  neglect  the  search  for  the  baser  but  more 
useful  metals.  Jucherau,  about  1702,  was  granted  per- 
mission to  proceed  to  the  Mississippi  to  establish  tanneries, 
and  to  mine  for  copper  and  lead.  This  explorer  founded  a 
settlement  upon  the  Ouabache. 

Carver,  in  his  account  of  a  journey  to  the  headwaters  of 
the  Mississippi,  in  1766,  says :  "  The  lands  near  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Ouisconsin  and  the  Mississippi  seemed  to  be 
excellent,  but  at  a  distance  it  is  full  of  mountains,  where 
there  are  said  to  be  many  lead  mines." l 

This  territory  was  occupied  by  the  Sacs  and  Fox  Indians, 
and  they  were  probably  the  only  miners  and  smelters  of 
lead  in  that  region  until  1774,  when  Julien  Dubuque 
settled  among  them,  establishing  himself  at  a  point  near 
the  site  of  the  flourishing  city  which  now  bears  his  name. 
Dubuque  was  a  French  Canadian,  and  first  settled  at  Ca- 
hokia,  a  French  village  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  opposite  the  bluff  on  which  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
now  stands.  He  was  a  man  of  determined  character  and 
keen  perceptions;  he  possessed  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  Indians,  and  soon  acquired  a  marked  influence  over  his 
new  friends.  He  was  believed  by  this  people  to  possess  a 
cure  for  the  bite  of  the  rattlesnake,  and  was  held  in  such 
veneration  and  esteem  that  they  submitted  all  matters  of 
great  importance  to  him,  and  absolutely  refused  to  allow 
any  other  white  man  to  live  among  them.  At  a  full  coun- 
cil of  the  Fox  tribe,  held  at  Prairie  du  Chien  in  1788,  they 
granted  to  Dubuque,  under  his  Indian  name  of  "  La  Petite 
Nuit,"  a  mine  of  lead.  This  grant  was  confirmed  to  him, 

1  S.  Carver,  Travels  Through  the  Interior  of  North  America  (London,  1778), 
p.  49. 


84  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

in  1796,  by  the  Baron  de  Carondelet,  the  Governor-General 
of  Louisiana. 

From  this  period  until  his  death,  in  1809,  Dubuque 
worked  these  mines,  but  it  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  any 
trustworthy  estimate  of  the  amount  of  metal  produced. 
General  Pike  failed  to  get  any  satisfactory  information 
from  Dubuque  at  the  time  of  his  visit,  in  1805,  either  as 
to  the  particulars  of  his  grant  from  the  Baron  de  Caronde- 
let, or  as  to  the  amount  of  lead  produced  at  the  mines. 
Dubuque  said  that  his  grant  was  at  St.  Louis  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  Soulard,  and  that  it  covered  a  territory  extend- 
ing twenty-eight  leagues  in  length,  by  one  to  three  leagues 
wide ;  that  the  product  of  the  mines  was  twenty  thousand 
to  forty  thousand  pounds  per  annum  ;  and  that  the  yield  of 
lead  was  about  seventy-five  per  cent.  General  Pike  appears 
to  have  been  of  the  impression  that  Dubuque  was  unwil- 
ling to  give  him  the  desired  information,  and  considered 
that  the  replies  to  his  questions  were  not  entirely  trust- 
worthy.1 

Dubuque  died  in  1809,  and  his  Indian  friends,  it  is  said, 
placed  him  in  a  leaden  coffin,  buried  him  on  the  bluff  which 
bears  his  name,  and  for  many  years  kept  a  lamp  burning 
nightly  over  his  grave.  Dubuque  died  in  debt,  and  his 
mines  were  seized  by  his  creditors,  and  were  sold  for  their 
benefit.  The  Indians,  however,  denied  all  former  conces- 
sions, and  a  dispute  arose,  which  was  unsettled  for  many 
years.2 

After  Dubuque's  death  the  Indians  remained  in  posses- 

1  Gen.  Z.  M.  Pike,  Account  of  an  Expedition  to  the  Sources  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, etc.  (Philadelphia,  1810),  appendix,  p.  5. 

2  Bradbury  relates  the  story  of  the  fate  of  the  persons  who  bought  Dubuque's 
claim.     They  ascended  the  Mississippi  with  an  armed  party  to  take  possession, 
but  were  roughly  treated  by  the  Indians,  who  immediately  sent  deputies  to  St. 
Louis  to  plead  their  cause.     They  disclaimed  having  had  any  intention  to  con- 
tinue the  grant  beyond  the  life  of  Dubuque,  and  declared  their  unwillingness  to 
offend  the  government  of  the  United  States.     They  said  that  when  the  Great 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  85 

sion  of  the  mines,  refusing  to  allow  any  white  man  to  enter 
upon  them,  evidently  entertaining  a  high  opinion  of  their 
value.  Schoolcraft,  writing  in  1819,  says,  "  The  Sacs  and 
Foxes  are  still  in  possession  of  the  mines  of  Prairie  du 
Chien,"  l  and  they  continued  to  claim  their  rights  until 
their  removal  from  the  district  in  1832. 

In  1807  Congress  passed  an  act  by  virtue  of  which  all 
government  lands  bearing  lead  ores  were  reserved,  and 
leases  of  these  lands  were  authorized.  None  were  issued, 
however,  until  1822,2  and  but  little  mining  was  done  under 
these  leases  until  1826,  after  which  time  the  production 
began  to  increase.  Upon  the  final  withdrawal  of  the  Indi- 
ans from  the  territory,  in  1832,  the  legal  representatives  of 
Dubuque  took  possession  of  the  lands  under  his  grant  from 
De  Carondelet,  and  began  extensive  improvements.  The 
government,  however,  claimed  the  land  by  virtue  of  a  sub- 
sequent purchase  from  the  Indians,  and  in  1833  they 
forcibly  ejected  the  settlers. 

The  first  leases  of  these  lead-bearing  lands  by  the  gov- 
ernment provided  that  ten  per  cent  of  the  lead  produced 
should  be  paid  as  rent.  This  amount  was  afterwards 
reduced  to  six  per  cent ;  but  shortly  after  fresh  troubles 
arose,  and  in  1847  it  was  determined  to  sell  the  mineral 
lands. 

There  are  no  trustworthy  records  of  the  production  of 
these  mines  during  this  early  period.  It  is  claimed  that  in 
1811  the  Indians  sold  more  than  five  hundred  thousand 

Spirit  gave  the  land  to  the  red  men,  their  ancestors,  he  foresaw  that  the  white 
men  would  come  into  the  country  and  that  the  game  would  be  destroyed.  He 
therefore  put  lead  into  the  ground  that  they,  their  wives  and  children,  might 
continue  to  exist.  JOHN  BRADBURY  :  Travels  into  the  Interior  of  America 
(Liverpool,  1817),  p.  256. 

1  H.  K.  Schoolcraft,  A  View  of  the  Lead   Mines  of  Missouri,  etc.  (New 
York,  1819),  p.  62. 

2  For  information  respecting  the  condition  of  mineral  lands  and  form  of  lease, 
see  message  of   President  Monroe  to  Congress,   May  7,   1822   (Washington, 
1822). 


86  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

pounds  of  lead  to  the  traders,  and  that  from  1821  to  1823 
three  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  one  hundred  and 
thirty  pounds  were  produced,  chiefly  by  the  Indians.  Large 
quantities  were  raised  in  1828  and  1829,  but  the  business 
was  overdone  at  this  time,  and  for  a  year  or  two  it  declined 
in  importance.1 

The  mining  and  metallurgy  of  this  region,  previous  to 
1845,  was  of  a  very  primitive  character.  The  deposits 
being  rich,  and  occurring  near  the  surface,  extensive  min- 
ing plants  were  unnecessary;  only  the  surface  mineral 
being  worked,  or  that  lying  above  the  water  level,  no  im- 
plements were  required  other  than  the  pick,  shovel,  and  a 
rude  windlass. 

The  settlement  of  the  legal  questions  affecting  the  lands 
in  the  district,  and  the  signs  of  exhaustion  of  the  surface 
ores  made,  after  1847,  a  more  careful  working  of  the  mines, 
and  a  more  complete  reduction  of  the  mineral  necessary; 
but  notwithstanding  the  improvements  which  were  then 
made,  the  production  has  gradually  and  steadily  declined, 
until  now  it  is  unimportant  as  compared  with  the  immense 
output  of  Colorado  and  other  States  beyond  the  great 
plains. 

In  answer  to  an  inquiry  relating  to  the  present  condition 
of  the  lead  mines  of  the  district,  which  comprises  portions 
of  the  States  of  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa,  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Galena,  111.,  Mr.  James  M.  Kyan,  of  that  city,  who 
has  been  intimately  connected  with  the  lead-mining  indus- 
try for  many  years,  says :  "  The  annual  product  of  the 
Galena  mines,  since  1880,  will  average  about  fifty  thousand 
pigs,  or  two  thousand  tons.  In  1885  the  product  reached 
fifty-five  thousand  pigs.  There  have  been  some  new  dis- 
coveries made  during  the  past  year,  only  one  of  which  is 
known  to  be  upon  hitherto  unexplored  ground.  Our  mines 

1  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  vol.  ii.  p.  287. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  87 

are  yielding  very  well,  considering  their  extent,  most  of  the 
land  being  now  used  for  agricultural  or  grazing  purposes, 
and  not  open  to  mining.  Our  mines  are  by  no  means  ex- 
hausted, but,  on  the  contrary,  are  rich  in  lead  ore.  The 
western  mines  have  attracted  many  men  who  formerly 
worked  our  mines,  and  the  lands  have  been  gradually 
fenced  in  and  devoted  to  agricultural  purposes,  thus  con- 
tracting the  territory  open  to  mining  very  much  as  com- 
pared with  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago."  Mr.  Gas  well 
estimates  the  production  of  the  Galena  district  in  1886  at 
one  thousand  five  hundred  tons. 

Extensive  metalliferous  deposits  exist  in  Southern  Illi- 
nois, notably  in  Hardin  County,  near  the  village  of  Kose 
Clare.  These  deposits  consist  of  several  veins,  declared  by 
Raymond,  who  reported  on  the  property  in  1874,  to  be 
true  fissure  veins,  which  can  be  traced  across  the  Ohio  and 
into  the  State  of  Kentucky.  These  veins  consist  of  calc 
spar  and  fluor  spar,  in  which  zinc  blende  and  galena  are 
disseminated.  The  galena  occurs  in  small  chimneys,  or 
chutes,  irregularly  scattered  through  the  vein,  constituting 
perhaps  twelve  per  cent  of  the  whole  mass,  and  carries 
eight  to  fourteen  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton.  The  veins 
in  some  cases  are  as  much  as  twenty  feet  thick,  and  if  the 
galena  is  disseminated  through  the  whole  mass  the  amount 
is  very  large.  These  deposits  have  been  known  for  many 
years,  and  have  been  exploited  at  different  times  by  indi- 
viduals and  companies,  but  without  successful  financial 
results.  The  operations  have  been  restricted  for  want  of 
sufficient  capital,  and  the  methods  employed  have  been 
generally  crude  and  unscientific.  Several  furnaces  for 
smelting  the  ore  have  been  erected,  and  smelting  has  been 
conducted  in  a  small  way,  but  the  plant  is  not  of  suffi- 
cient capacity  for  profitable  results,  and  the  design  of  the 
furnaces  is  not  perfectly  adapted  to  the  requirements  of 
the  ore.  As  a  consequence  the  production  has  been  in- 


88  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

significant,  and,  after  some  desultory  work,  smelting  was 
abandoned  many  years  ago.1 

The  explorations  of  the  Canadian  Jesuits  resulted  in  the 
acquisition  of  the  Great  West  by  the  French  crown.  That 
portion  of  it,  which  is  now  included  in  the  States  of  Mis- 
souri, Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  parts  of  Illinois, 
Tennessee,  and  Kentucky,  and  the  broad  domain  to  the 
westward  was  known  as  Louisiana.  The  most  marvel- 
lous tales  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  this  new  country  were 
circulated  throughout  France,  rousing  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  people,  until  it  was  believed  that  the  new  possessions 
needed  only  exploration  and  colonization  to  bear  fruits 
rivalling  the  enormous  spoils  of  the  Spanish  conquests  of 
Mexico  and  Peru. 

On  Sept.  14,  1712,  letters  patent  were  granted  (for  a 
money  consideration,  it  is  said)  by  Louis  XIV.  to  Anthony 
Crozat  for  exclusive  commercial  privileges  in  Louisiana, 
with  proprietorship  of  all  mines  and  minerals,  reserving 
one-fifth  of  all  gold  and  silver,  and  one-tenth  of  all  baser 
metals  for  the  crown.  Crozat  was  also  granted  exclusive 
privileges  for  traffic  in  slaves  in  the  territory,  and  was  per- 
mitted to  send  one  ship  in  each  year  to  the  coast  of  Guinea 
for  a  cargo  of  these  unfortunates. 

Vessels  were  at  once  freighted  with  colonists  and  supplies 
for  the  new  colony,  and  upon  his  arrival  Crozat  prepared 
to  open  trade  with  the  Indians  for  peltries.  Unexpected 
difficulties  however  presented  themselves  in  the  competi- 
tion of  the  English  traders  who  penetrated  to  this  distant 

1  Report  of  Dr.  R.  W.  Raymond  on  Property  of  Mineral  City  Mining  and 
Smelting  Company,  1874.  Fluor  spar  is  now  mined  here  in  a  small  way,  and 
efforts  are  being  made  to  provide  capital  sufficient  to  develop  the  property 
and  to  produce  lead  on  a  large  scale.  The  report  of  Dr.  Raymond  is  encourag- 
ing, and  should  the  property  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  company  possessing  large 
capital,  and  the  exploitation  be  pushed  with  vigor  by  competent  engineers,  the 
locality  would  doubtless  become  an  important  source  of  the  lead  supply  of  the 
United  States. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  89 

region,  and  in  the  hostility  or  indifference  of  the  Spanish 
traders  at  Pensacola.  On  the  17th  of  March,  1713,  there 
arrived  in  Mobile  Bay  the  frigate  "  Baron  de  la  Fosse." 
Among  her  passengers  was  M.  de  la  Motte  Cadillac,  or 
La  Mothe  Cadillac,  with  a  commission  as  governor.  La 
Mothe  Cadillac,  or  Lamothe,  as  he  signed  his  name  in  a 
clear  bold  hand,  —  such  a  signature  as  many  a  merchant 
prince  may  envy,  —  Parkman  describes  as  a  gentilhomme 
rover,  one  who  as  chief  of  a  band  of  hardy  adventurers 
was  ever  ready  for  a  desperate  dash  into  unknown  dangers, 
sometimes  engaged  in  contraband  trading,  at  others  pene- 
trating into  new  and  undiscovered  regions,  fighting,  negoti- 
ating, and  establishing  new  forts  or  settlements.1  Lamothe, 
or  La  Motte,  as  he  is  generally  called  in  the  literature  of 
the  period,  arrived  in  Canada  from  France  with  La  Salle  in 
July,  1678.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  journeys  of 
discovery  made  by  the  French,  and  accompanied  Hennepin 
in  his  expedition  to  Niagara  and  to  the  Iroquois.  La 
Motte  founded  Detroit,  and  engaged  in  the  expeditions 
for  the  capture  of  the  English  settlements  on  the  coast 
of , Maine.2 

La  Motte  seems  to  have  been  in  a  continual  quarrel  with 
the  priests,  and  was  in  bad  repute  with  the  faithful  of 
Montreal,  who  protested  against  the  establishment  of  the 
post  at  Detroit,  alleging  that  La  Motte  was  "  known  not  to 
be  in  the  odor  of  sanctity."  He  was  fully  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  the  times.  While  he  was  commandant  at 
Michillimackinac  an  Iroquois  prisoner  was  tortured  and 
burned  at  the  stake,  and  by  his  orders  cut  up  and  dis- 
tributed as  a  choice  morsel  to  his  Indian  allies.  He  prom- 

1  Francis  Parkman,  The  Old  Regime  in  Canada  (Boston,  1874),  p.  261. 

2  A  Description  of  Louisiana,  by  Father  Louis  Hennepin,  Recollet  Missionary, 
translated  by  J.  G.  Shea  (New  York,  1880),  p.  61.     See  Voyages  Curieux  et 
Nouveaux  de  Messrs.  Hennepin  et  Delaborde,  etc.  (Amsterdam,  1740),  p.  77;  also 
see  Le  Clercq,  First  Establishment  of  the  Faith  in  the  New  World,  translated 
by  J.  G.  Shea  (New  York,  1880),  vol.  ii.  p.  299  et  seq. 


90  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

ised  to  renew  the  entertainment  should  more  prisoners  be 
brought  in.1 

La  Motte  found  upon  assuming  the  duties  of  his  office 
that  the  privileges  of  trading  granted  by  the  King  to 
Crozat  restricted  his  authority  and  the  importance  of  his 
position.  So  restless  a  nature  could  not  accept  inactivity, 
and  in  1715  he  embarked  upon  an  expedition  to  the  coun- 
try of  the  Illinois  in  search  of  silver  mines.  The  belief  in 
the  existence  of  silver  and  gold  in  the  country  was  uni- 
versal. Du  Pratz,  writing  so  late  as  1758,  says,  "  I  found 
upon  the  river  of  the  Arkansas  a  rivulet  that  rolled  down 
with  its  waters  gold  dust,"  and,  "  The  mine  of  Marameg, 
which  is  silver,  is  pretty  near  the  confluence  of  the  river 
which  gives  it  name." 2  Brackenridge,  writing  in  1810, 
seems  to  have  believed  in  the  existence  of  gold  in  Arkansas 
and  of  silver  in  Missouri.3  Bradbury,  however,  a  com- 
panion of  Brackenridge  in  his  journey  up  the  Missouri, 
and  writing  at  about  the  same  time,  expresses  surprise  that 
Du  Pratz  should  insist  that  a  silver  mine  existed  in  the 
country.4 

La  Motte  returned  from  his  expedition  to  the  Illinois, 
bringing  fine  specimens  of  lead  ore,  but  no  silver  or  gold. 

It  is  supposed  that  upon  this  expedition  La  Motte  dis- 
covered the  deposits  of  lead  upon  the  head  waters  of  the  St. 
Francis  River,  which  bear  his  name  to-day,  and  are  known 
as  Mine  La  Motte.6  Authorities  generally  place  the  dis- 

1  Francis  Turkman,  Count  Frontenac,  and  New  France  under  Louis  XIV. 
(Boston,    1880),   p.   403   et  seq.     See  also   Narrative  and   Critical  History  of 
America,  edited  by  Justin  Winsor  (Boston  and  New  York,  1886),  vol.  v.  p.  29. 

2  Le  Paye  Du  Pratz,  The  History  of  Louisiana,  etc.,  translated  by (Lon- 
don, 1774),  pp.  177,  219. 

8  H.  M.  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana  (Pittsburgh,  1814),  p.  63. 

4  John  Bradbury,  Travels  in  the  Interior  of  America,  etc.  (Liverpool,  1817), 
p.  250. 

6  Some  writers  have  attempted  to  show  that  De  Soto  reached  the  mineral 
region  of  Missouri  in  his  expedition  of  exploration  and  discovery  in  1539-41.  It  is 
contended  with  some  degree  of  probability  that  Do  Soto  first  discovered  the  Mis- 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  91 

co very  of  these  deposits  at  a  later  date.  Schoolcraft  says 
La  Motte  was  sent  out  by  Renault  in  1720  to  search  for 
mines,  and  at  this  time  discovered  Mine  La  Motte ; l  but  La 
Motte  resigned,  and  surrendered  his  office  to  L'Epinay  in 
March,  1719,  and  returned  to  France,  where  he  died  in  the 
succeeding  year.2  There  is  a  tradition  among  the  old  in- 
habitants of  the  district  that  La  Motte  had  learned  at 
Kaskaskia  that  the  Indians  had  brought  in  lead  to  barter  for 
supplies.  La  Motte  endeavored  by  presents  and  promises 
to  persuade  them  to  disclose  the  location  of  the  deposit. 
After  much  negotiation  the  Indians  consented,  and,  accom- 
panied by  La  Motte  and  a  guard  of  five  men,  they  started 
for  the  mines.  La  Motte  suspected  that  the  Indians  would 
refuse  at  the  last  moment  to  show  him  the  vein,  and  in- 
structed his  men,  should  the  Indians  declare  they  could  not 
find  it,  to  leave  the  camp  singly  and  in  different  directions, 
and  search  for  the  locality.  As  La  Motte  had  surmised, 
after  penetrating  to  some  distance  in  the  country,  the 
Indians  said  they  were  unable  to  find  the  deposit.  La 
Motte  went  into  camp,  and  shortly  after,  making  various 
excuses,  his  men  one  by  one  left  the  camp.  After  a  search, 
occupying  a  day  or  two,  they  returned,  having  found  the 
deposit  called  in  later  times  "  The  Golden  Vein,"  one  of  the 
richest  deposits  of  galena  ever  discovered.3 

Charlevoix  tells   us   the   Indians   believed   they  would 

sissippi  River  at  a  point  near  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  State  of  Mississippi, 
where  he  crossed  to  the  Arkansas  shore.  He  toiled  through  the  swamps  and 
low  lands  of  southeast  Missouri,  striking  north  till  he  reached  a  country  which 
is  supposed  to  be  the  mineral  region  near  Arcadia,  and  not  far  from  Mine  La 
Motte.  Schoolcraft  treats  this  subject  at  some  length,  and  presents  facts  and 
arguments  in  support  of  the  proposition,  which  seem  to  be  conclusive.  See  H. 
R.  Schoolcraft,  Scenes  and  Adventures  in  the  Semi- Alpine  Region  of  the  Ozark 
Mountains  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  (Philadelphia,  1853),  p.  139  et  seq. 

1  Schoolcraft,  Views  of  the  Lead  Mines,  etc.,  p.  16. 

2  See  Du  Pratz,  History  of  Louisiana,  p.  12  ;  B.  F.  French,  Historical  Col- 
lections of  Louisiana  (New  Series),  p.  112. 

8  Mr.  V.  R.  Allen,  of  Mine  La  Motte,  has  furnished  this  and  other  interesting 
traditions  and  information  respecting  the  early  history  of  Mine  La  Motte. 


92  A   HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

certainly  die  should  they  reveal  the  location  of  their  mines 
to  a  stranger.1  The  existence  of  lead  in  the  region  watered 
by  the  Meramec  had  been  known  to  the  French  for  some 
years.  The  Indians  had  offered  it  in  barter  for  supplies  at 
the  French  posts  of  Kaskaskia,  and  Cahokia;  and  Peni- 
caut,  one  of  Le  Sueur's  followers  in  his  voyage  up  the 
Mississippi,  in  1700,  in  his  account  of  the  journey  says: 
"We  came  to  a  small  river  called  Maramecq.  It  is  by 
this  route  that  the  Indians  go  to  the  lead  mines,  which  are 
about  fifty  leagues  distant  up  the  Mississippi ;  ten  leagues 
further  we  came  to  a  village  of  the  Illinois,  situated  on  the 
banks  of  the  river."  2  The  lead  mines  referred  to  must  be 
those  of  southeast  Missouri,  which  are  perhaps  fifty  leagues 
distant  by  the  course  of  the  Meramec  and  its  tributaries, 
while  the  mines  on  the  upper  Mississippi  are  more  than  one 
hundred  leagues  from  the  Indian  village,  which  was  located 
upon  the  low  lands  opposite  the  rocky  bluff  upon  which  the 
city  of  St.  Louis  was  afterwards  founded.  Grevier  men- 
tions in  his  journal  the  river  Miaramigoiia,  "where  the 
very  rich  lead  mine  is,  twelve  or  thirteen  leagues  from  its 
mouth."  3 

Crozat's  scheme  proved  too  much  for  his  resources,  and 
in  1717  he  surrendered  his  privileges.  In  September  of  the 
same  year  the  charter  of  the  Company  of  the  West  was 
registered  in  France.  This  company  was  established  by 
the  celebrated  adventurer  John  Law,  as  a  means  of  relief  to 
the  French  exchequer,  which  at  that  period  was  struggling 
with  an  immense  floating  debt.  The  privileges  surrendered 
by  Crozat  were  at  once  granted  to  the  new  company,  and 
these  concessions  were  followed  soon  after  by  other  grants 

1  Pere  Fr.  X.  Charlevoix,  Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  North  America,  etc.  (Lon- 
don, 1761,  2  vols.),  vol.  ii.  p.  219. 

2  B.  F.  French,  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana  (New  Series,  New  York, 
1869),  p.  65. 

8  Journal  of  the  Voyage  of  Father  Grevier  in  1700  Down  the  Mississippi; 
Shea's  Collection  of  Early  Voyages  on  the  Mississippi  (Albany,  1861),  p.  119. 


LEAD  MINING  IN   AMERICA.  93 

and  by  the  absorption  of  other  commercial  companies. 
The  title  was  changed  to  the  Compagnie  des  Indes,  and 
the  speculative  bubble  which  made  all  France  mad  was 
fairly  launched.  Under  the  excitement  which  followed  the 
establishment  of  this  company  Louisiana  received  large 
accessions  to  its  population.  As  the  belief  in  the  exist- 
ence of  the  precious  metals  was  universal  no  great  diffi- 
culty was  experienced  in  persuading  miners  and  artisans  to 
emigrate  to  the  new  Eldorado.  A  settlement  had  been 
made  in  1700  at  Kaskaskia,  and  in  1718  the  company 
built  Fort  Chartres,  on  the  Mississippi,  a  short  distance 
above. 

In  1718  the  Company  of  St.  Philippe  was  formed,  under 
the  patronage  of  the  Company  of  the  West,  for  trading  and 
mining.  As  director  and  agent  of  this  company,  Phillippe 
Francois  Renault,  left  France  in  1719  with  two  hundred 
French  miners  and  smelters,  bound  for  the  gold  and  silver 
mines  of  the  Meramec,  St.  Francis,  and  the  Arkansas. 
Renault  stopped  at  San  Domingo  to  purchase  five  hundred 
slaves  to  work  his  mines,  and  then  proceeded  to  Kaskaskia 
in  Illinois,  and  immediately  dispatched  parties  in  different 
directions  in  search  of  gold  and  silver  ores.  The  deposits 
of  lead  on  the  St.  Francis,  discovered  by  La  Motte,  pre- 
sented peculiarities  which  led  the  first  explorers  to  believe 
that  the  ore  contained  silver,  and  the  failure  to  extract 
the  precious  metal  was  attributed  to  the  refractory  con- 
dition of  the  ore,  which  required  peculiar  manipulation  in 
treatment  for  successful  reduction.  Le  Page  Du  Pratz, 
who  arrived  in  the  colony  in  1719,  and  who  wrote  a  history 
of  Louisiana  in  1758,  locates  a  gold  mine  on  the  head- 
waters of  the  Arkansas,  and  refers  to  "  De  la  Mothe's 
mine "  as  a  silver  mine,  "  the  assay  of  which  has  been 
made." l  Austin,  writing  in  1804,  says  that  the  ore 

1  Du  Pratz,  History  of  Louisiana,  p.  182. 


94  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

obtained  from  Mine  La  Motte  contains  fifty  ounces  of 
silver  to  the  ton.1 

Renault  headed  one  of  his  exploring  parties,  and  is  said 
to  have  discovered  the  lead-fields  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  town  of  Potosi,  in  Missouri. 

According  to  Charlevoix,  who  passed  down  the  river  in 
1721,  the  first  attempt  at  mining  in  this  region  was  made 
by  the  Sieur  de  Lochon  in  1719,  who  was  sent  into  the 
country  by  the  West  India  Company  as  principal  smelter 
or  founder.  The  object  however  was  silver,  and  not  lead. 
De  Lochon  mined  a  quantity  of  ore,  and  after  four  days 
smelting  produced  from  a  pound  of  ore  two  drachms  of 
silver.  Some,  however,  suspected  that  the  smelter  surrep- 
titiously added  the  precious  metal,  which  was  probably  the 
fact.  He  afterwards  succeeded  in  recovering  "fourteen 
pounds  of  very  bad  lead"  from  two  or  three  thousand 
pounds  of  ore,  and  disgusted  with  his  failure  left  the 
country  and  returned  to  France. 

The  company  still  believing  in  the  existence  of  precious 
metals,  and  that  the  failure  of  De  Lochon  was  only  due 
to  his  ignorance  of  smelting,  sent  out  a  Spaniard  named 
Antonio,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  at  the  siege  of  Pen- 
sacola,  had  afterwards  been  a  galley-slave,  and  who  boasted 
of  his  experience  in  mining  in  Mexico.  Antonio  succeeded 
no  better  than  his  predecessor.  He  made  extensive  exca- 
vations, smelted  pieces  of  the  rock,  and  it  was  said  suc- 
ceeded in  extracting  some  silver,  but  this  statement  was 
not  verified.  A  company  of  miners,  under  the  lead  of  one 
La  Renaudiere,  now  took  charge  of  the  operations.  These 
adventurers  met  with  the  same  ill  success,  because,  Charle- 
voix says,  neither  La  Renaudiere  nor  any  of  his  company 
were  in  the  least  acquainted  with  the  construction  of 
furnaces.  About  this  time  Renault  arrived  with  his  party 

1  American  State  Papers,  —  Public  Lands,  vol.  i.  p.  188  :  Letter  of  Moses 
Austin  to  Captain  Stoddard. 


LEAD  MINING  IN   AMERICA.  95 

of  exploration  and  discovery,  and  undertook  the  develop- 
ment of  the  deposits  and  the  search  for  silver.  "In  the 
month  of  June  last"  (1721),  Charlevoix  says,  " Renault 
found  a  bed  of  lead  two  feet  in  thickness,  running  to  a 
great  length  over  a  chain  of  mountains,  where  he  has  set 
his  people  to  work.  He  flatters  himself  that  there  is 
silver  below  the  lead.  Everybody  is  not  of  his  opinion, 
but  time  will  discover  the  truth."1 

Renault's  discovery  was  afterward  granted  to  him  in 
freehold,  —  a  princely  domain,  "  a  league  and  a  half  in 
front,  on  the  little  Maramig  and  on  the  River  Maramig, 
at  the  place  of  the  first  fork,  which  lead  to  the  cabin 
called  Cdbanage  de  Renaudiere,  depth  six  leagues."  This 
grant  is  signed  "  Boisbriant  Des  Ursins,"  governor  or  com- 
mandant at  Fort  Chartres.  Renault's  exploration,  how- 
ever, was  for  the  discovery  of  silver,  and  failing  in  this  he 
set  his  men  to  digging  lead  ore  at  what  was  afterwards 
known  as  Mine  Renault,  situated  near  Potosi.  Austin,  in 
1804,  says,  "  This  mine  has  not  been  worked  in  seventy 
years." 

The  Mississippi  scheme  collapsed  in  1731,  and  Renault, 
having  previously  discovered  many  deposits  of  lead,  and 
failing  to  find  silver,  turned  his  attention  to  the  production 
of  the  baser  metal.  His  operations  were  not  successful, 
and  he  gradually  withdrew  from  his  mining  ventures,  sold 
his  slaves,  and  in  1744  returned  to  France,  where  he  died 
in  1755. 

In  1763  Francois  Yalle  explored  the  deposits  at  Mine 
La  Motte,  and  erected  a  block-house  to  protect  his  men 
from  the  raids  of  the  Chickasaws,  who  frequently  carried 
the  tomahawk  and  torch  through  the  country.  Valle  con- 
ducted mining  operations  for  some  years;  but  in  1769, 
during  the  absence  of  a  portion  of  the  force,  the  post  was 

1  Pere  Fr.  X.  de  Charlevoix,  Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  North  America,  etc. 
(London,  1761,  2  vols.),  vol.  ii.  p.  219  et  seq. 


96  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

attacked  by  the  Indians,  and  Yalle's  favorite  son  was 
brutally  murdered.  The  mines  were  then  abandoned,  but 
after  a  short  time  operations  were  again  inaugurated ;  but 
another  attack  resulted  in  the  capture  and  torture  of  La 
Bastille,  one  of  Valle's  followers,  when  the  work  was  again 
abandoned,  and  it  was  not  resumed  until  1780  or  1782. 
This  last  attempt  was  successful,  and  the  deposit  has  been 
exploited  nearly  continuously  ever  since. 

In  1763,  Francis  Burton,  or  Breton,1  discovered  the  ex- 
tensive lead  fields  known  as  Mine  a  Burton.  In  1798,  a 
concession  of  one  league,  comprehending  about  one  third 
of  the  deposits,  was  made  to  Moses  Austin,  on  condition 
he  should  erect  a  smelt  ing-furnace  and  establish  lead  man- 
facture.  Previous  to  the  operations  of  Austin,  the  methods 
in  use  for  mining  and  smelting  were  crude  and  wasteful  in 
the  extreme.  Austin  erected  a  reverberatory  furnace  of 
approved  form,  sunk  the  first  shaft  known  in  the  territory, 
and  erected  at  Herculaneum,  a  town  he  founded  on  the 
Mississippi,  a  shot-tower  and  sheet-lead  works.2  He  dis- 
posed of  his  products  to  New  Orleans  and  the  settlements 
on  the  river  below.  About  this  time  many  important  dis- 
coveries were  made  in  the  district,  at  localities  known  as 
Mine  a  Robina,  Mine  a  Joe,  American  Mines,  and  at  other 
places.  The  Spanish  government  —  for  the  territory  was 
then  under  Spanish  rule  —  allowed  the  miners  to  work  on 
public  land  free  of  any  tax,  and  a  period  of  considerable 
prosperity  ensued. 

It  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  any  trustworthy  estimate  of 

1  Burton,  or  Breton,  was  an  old  French  soldier  who  served  at  Braddock's  de- 
feat, at  the  siege  of  Louisbourg,  and  at  other  celebrated  battles.     He  was  a 
hunter  in  Missouri,  and  discovered  the  mine  during  one  of  his  hunting  expedi- 
tions.    He  is  said  to  have  lived  to  the  age  of  109  years. 

2  Schoolcraft  says  there  were  three  shot-towers  on  the  cliff  near  Herculaneum 
at  the  time  of  his  visit,  in  1819.     The  lead  was  melted  on  the  top  of  a  precipi- 
tous cliff,  and  dropped  to  the  bank  of  the  river  below,  thus  ingeniously  saving 
the  cost  of  erecting  a  tower. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  97 

the  production  of  the  Missouri  mines  under  French  and 
Spanish  rule.  Mills  estimates  the  production  of  Mine  La 
Motte,  from  1723  to  1804,  at  8000  tons.1  The  production 
during  French  rule,  except  at  Mine  La  Motte,  was  probably 
small.  During  Spanish  occupation  the  product  largely  in- 
creased ;  Austin,  however,  mentions  but  four  mines  being 
operated  in  1804. 

In  1803,  the  territory,  or  province,  of  Louisiana  was 
purchased  by  the  United  States,  and  most  of  the  French 
and  Spanish  concessions,  when  they  had  been  continuously 
occupied,  were  confirmed  by  a  commission. 

Bradbury,  writing  in  1810,  says,  "The  ore  is  found  in 
detached  lumps  in  the  clay,  which  is  colored  red  by  decom- 
posed iron  oxide."  He  says  the  workmen  had  no  other 
implements  than  a  pick  and  a  wooden  shovel.  When  they 
came  to  the  rock  they  abandoned  the  pit  and  began  a 
new  digging.  The  workmen  were  mostly  Creole  French. 
As  soon  as  a  district  was  discovered  in  which  the  ore  was 
abundant  enough  to  warrant  the  erection  of  a  furnace,  a 
name  was  given  to  it.  Mine  au  Shibboleth  was  discovered 
while  Bradbury  was  in  the  country,  and  2000  tons  of  lead, 
he  says,  were  produced  from  this  mine  in  one  summer.2 
Brackenridge  estimated  the  annual  production,  in  1810,  at 
about  760  tons.3  School  craft  visited  the  district  in  1819, 
and  made  some  valuable  investigations  and  researches 
respecting  the  character  and  extent  of  the  mineral  de- 
posits, the  early  history  of  the  country,  and  the  discov- 
ery of  the  lead  fields.  He  comments  upon  the  crude 
methods  employed,  and  says :  "  There  are  not  over  four 
or  five  regular  shafts,  out  of  about  forty  mines ;  there  is 
not  an  engine,  either  horse,  steam,  or  water-power,  for  re- 

1  James  E.  Mills,  B.S.,  Geological  Keport  on  the  Mine  La  Motte  Estate,  New 
York,  1877. 

2  Bradbury,  Travels  in  the  Interior  of  America,  etc.,  p.  250  et  seq. 
8  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  154. 

7 


98  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

moving  water  from  the  mines,  several  of  which  have  been 
abandoned  on  this  account  with  the  richest  prospects  in 
view." l  The  annual  production  at  this  time  is  estimated 
by  Schoolcraft,  in  the  forty-six  mines  then  being  operated 
(every  digging  was  called  a  mine),  at  1,500  tons,  giving 
employment  to  1,100  men.  Mine  Shibboleth,  in  1811,  pro- 
duced 1,600  tons;  and  from  1798  to  1816,  Mine  a  Burton 
and  the  Potosi  diggings  yielded  together  4,800  tons.2 

The  period  from  1830  to  1845  was  probably  the  most 
prosperous  in  the  early  history  of  this  district,  but  it  is  im- 
possible to  find  any  records  of  a  trustworthy  nature  upon 
which  to  base  an  estimate  of  the  output. 

In  1790,  Mine  La  Motte  was  acquired  by  purchase  by 
Jean  Baptiste  Pratte,  Jean  Baptiste  St.  Gemme  Beauvais, 
Francois  Valle,  and  Jean  Baptiste  Valle.  Work  was  prose- 
cuted at  this  mine  by  many  individuals  at  various  times, 
until  1839,  when  the  La  Motte  Mining  Company  was 
formed  for  working  the  deposits  upon  an  extensive  scale. 
The  production  from  1804  to  1819  is  estimated  by  Mills  at 
4,000  tons ;  from  1820  to  1833,  at  7,300  tons ;  from  1834 
to  1837,  at  1,500  tons.3 

Previous  to  1838,  the  lead  carbonate,  cerussite,  called  by 
the  miners  "  dry  bone,"  was  rejected  by  them  as  valueless, 
and  it  accumulated  in  great  heaps.  In  that  year  a  Prus- 
sian named  Hagen  arrived  at  the  mine,  and  shortly  after 
entered  into  partnership  with  Valle,  who  was  then  work- 
ing it.  Hagen  knew  the  value  of  the  "  dry  bone,"  and 
erected  furnaces  for  its  reduction.  The  result  of  the  utili- 
zation of  the  cerussite  was  a  largely  increased  production, 
amounting  to  upwards  of  10,000  tons  during  the  period 
from  1838  to  1850.  From  1851  to  1861,  operations  were 
checked  owing  to  litigation,  and  the  output  is  estimated  at 
no  more  than  1,400  tons  during  this  period.  In  1861  the 

1  Schoolcraft,  Views  of  the  Lead  Mines,  etc.,  p.  22.          2  Ibid.  p.  116  et  seq. 
8  Mills,  Geological  Report  of  Mine  La  Motte. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  99 

furnaces  were  destroyed  by  the  United  States  troops,  to 
prevent  the  utilization  of  the  deposits  by  the  Confederates.1 
They  were  rebuilt  soon  afterwards,  and  work  was  contin- 
ued on  a  small  scale  until  1869,  when  the  property  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Mine  La  Motte  Company,  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  La  Motte  Lead  Company,  in  1870,  and  finally 
to  Mr.  Rowland  Hazard,  of  Providence,  in  1875.  The 
immense  property,  consisting  of  nearly  24,000  acres  of 
mineral  lands  in  one  body,  and  about  10,000  acres  of  pine 
lands  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  mineral  lands, 
is  owned  entirely  by  Mr.  Hazard,  and  mining  and  smelting 
operations,  inaugurated  some  years  since  upon  a  scientific 
and  economical  basis,  are  being  successfully  conducted  by 
his  able  manager  and  his  assistants. 

From  1845,  mining  operations  in  Missouri,  which  had 
previously  been  conducted  almost  exclusively  in  the  surface 
diggings,  owing  to  the  exhaustion  of  the  ore  began  to  de- 
cline. Until  1867  this  decline  steadily  continued,  but  about 
that  time  the  deposit  in  St.  Francois  County,  which  had 
been  worked  in  the  old  way  for  many  years,  were  explored 
to  a  deeper  level,  and  a  stratum  of  limestone,  in  which  lead 
ore  is  disseminated,  was  discovered  at  about  one  hundred 
feet  below  the  surface.  The  St.  Joseph  Lead  Company  was 
formed,  and  proper  works  were  erected  for  dressing  the  ore, 
and  improved  methods  adopted  for  smelting  and  refining. 
The  introduction  of  the  diamond  drill  rendered  it  possible 
to  examine  the  strata  many  hundred  feet  below  the  sur- 
face, at  a  moderate  cost.  The  result  in  this  locality  has 
been  the  establishment  of  the  fact  of  the  occurrence  at  in- 
tervals, up  to  four  hundred  feet  below  the  surface,  of  sev- 
eral strata  of  limestone,  bearing  disseminated  through  it 
lead  ore  in  paying  quantities. 

Adjoining  the  property  of  the  St.  Joseph  Company  are 

1  Mills,  Geological  Report  on  Mine  La  Motte* 


100  A  HISTORY  OF   LEAD. 

the  lead  deposits  owned  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  by 
the  Pratte  family,  and  for  a  considerable  portion  of  this 
period  exploited  in  the  old  way.  In  1874,  Mr.  Firmin 
Desloge  developed  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  the  lead- 
bearing  strata  underlying  this  property.  Desloge  organized 
the  Desloge  Lead  Company,  bought  the  property,  and  began 
the  erection  of  an  extensive  plant  for  the  treatment  of  the 
ore  by  scientific  and  modern  methods.  The  Desloge  Com- 
pany operated  their  mine  successfully  for  ten  years,  when 
their  ore-dressing  works  were  destroyed  by  fire.  A  con- 
solidation was  then  effected,  or  rather  the  St.  Joseph  Com- 
pany bought  out  the  property  and  remaining  plant  of  the 
Desloge  Company,  increased  their  capital  to  $  1,500,000, 
and  since  that  period  have  worked  the  mines  of  both 
companies. 

The  early  smelters  obtained  the  metal  from  the  dissem- 
inated lead  ore  by  first  burning  it  upon  a  log  heap,  then 
pulverizing  it  by  pounding  with  a  bucking-iron  ;  the  ore 
was  then  imperfectly  washed  by  hand  jigs,  and  finally 
smelted  in  the  old  log  furnace.  The  methods  now  in  use  at 
the  St.  Joseph  Company's  works  represent  the  refinement 
of  scientific  ingenuity  and  economy.  The  ore  is  rained  and 
hoisted  to  the  mouth  of  the  shaft,  which  immediately 
adjoins  the  ore-dressing  mill.  From  the  shaft  the  ore 
is  transported,  in  cars  carrying  some  1,500  pounds,  to 
the  dumps  before  which  are  conveniently  arranged  some 
twelve  or  fifteen  powerful  crushers,  into  which  the  rock 
bearing  the  ore  is  shovelled  by  men ;  and  here  manual 
labor  in  the  operation  ends,  for  once  caught  in  the  irre- 
sistible jaws  of  the  crusher,  the  ore  moves  by  gravity  until 
reduced  to  the  proper  degree  of  fineness,  when,  mixed  with 
water,  it  is  pumped  by  powerful  centrifugal  pumps  to  the 
jigs  and  slime-dressing  tables,  where  the  complete  separa- 
tion of  the  ore  from  the  limestone  matrix  is  effected.  The 
debris,  or  chat,  to  use  the  miners'  term,  is  pumped  into  cars 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  '  101 

which  stand  conveniently  at  the  rear  of  the  building ;  the 
water  quickly  drains  off,  and  the  chat  is  hauled  away  in 
train-loads  by  one  of  the  five  locomotives  which  are  in  con- 
stant use  at  the  works,  and  is  utilized  in  building  roads  or  in 
filling  up  ravines.  The  ore  is  deposited  in  the  same  manner 
in  other  cars,  which  are  hauled  to  the  calcining  furnaces, 
whence,  after  treatment,  it  goes  to  the  blast  furnaces, 
where  the  impurities  in  the  ore  are  eliminated ;  then  it  is 
passed  through  the  refining  furnace,  from  which  it  is  run 
into  moulds  and  is  ready  for  market. 

The  works  of  this  company  are  among  the  largest  and 
most  complete  in  the  world,  and  evidence  in  the  highest 
degree  the  wise  management  of  its  president,  and  the  in- 
genuity and  skill  of  its  superintendent.  Fully  one  thou- 
sand tons  of  the  lead-bearing  limestone  is  daily  mined, 
brought  to  the  surface,  crushed,  the  ore  perfectly  sepa- 
rated, and  the  metal  liberated,  producing  upwards  of  twelve 
thousand  tons  of  metallic  lead  per  annum.  The  company 
owns  many  thousand  acres  of  land,  upon  which  they  have 
built  their  thriving  and  picturesque  town  of  Bonne  Terre,1 
with  its  six  thousand  inhabitants,  its  free  hospital,  free 
library  and  reading  room,  club  room,  and  eight  churches. 
The  company  also  owns  and  operates,  upon  its  own  do- 
main, a  railroad  more  than  thirteen  miles  long,  which  con- 
nects its  works  with  the  St.  Louis,  Iron  Mountain,  and 
Southern  Railway,  at  Summit,  sixty-three  miles  from 
St.  Louis. 

The  ores  of  Mine  La  Motte  and  St.  Joseph  contain 
nickel  and  cobalt  in  notable  quantities,  and  in  this  they 
differ  from  the  ores  found  in  the  surface  diggings.  The 
nickel  is  carefully  preserved  in  the  treatment  of  the  ore, 
and  is  finally  concentrated,  and  in  the  form  of  matte  or 
speiss  is  shipped  to  Europe,  for  further  treatment  and 

1  Bonne  terre  is  the  name  given  by  the  old  French  miners  to  the  loose 
gravelly  soil  lying  above  or  in  the  neighborhood  of  ore  bodies. 


102  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

purification  in  the  metallurgical  establishments  of  England 
and  of  Germany. 

The  principal  production  in  southeast  Missouri,  for  ten 
years  or  more,  has  been  from  the  furnaces  of  Mine  La 
Motte,  St.  Joseph,  and  Desloge.  The  utilization  of  the 
disseminated  ore  marks  an  era  in  the  mining  industry  of 
the  State.  There  is  every  indication  of  the  practically 
inexhaustible  nature  of  the  deposits  at  St.  Joseph  and  at 
Mine  La  Motte.  Mills  estimates  that  no  less  than  fifty-five 
thousand  tons  of  metallic  lead  have  been  produced  at  Mine 
La  Motte  from  the  date  of  its  discovery  up  to  1876. 1  It  is 
known  that  similar  deposits  exist  in  other  localities  in  the 
mineral  region  of  southeast  Missouri,  and  it  is  believed 
there  are  many  deposits  yet  undiscovered.  The  successful 
operations  at  the  St.  Joseph  Mine  have  stimulated  prospect- 
ing, and  many  new  discoveries  have  been  announced.  At 
Doe  Eun,  in  St.  Frangois  County,  explorations  have  de- 
monstrated the  occurrence  of  a  body  of  ore,  richer  than 
and  quite  as  extensive  as  at  Bonne  Terre,  and  a  plant  is 
now  being  erected  to  exploit  it.  It  is  confidently  believed 
that  the  production  in  this  district  will  be  materially  in- 
creased in  the  near  future,  and  that  Missouri  will  occupy 
a  more  prominent  position  as  one  of  the  great  lead  pro- 
ducing districts  of  the  world. 

The  lead  deposits  of  southwest  Missouri  are  commonly 
thought  to  have  been  discovered  about  the  year  1848;  but 
Brackenridge,  writing  in  1810,  says  that  he  has  been  in- 
formed by  hunters  that  lead  ore  in  great  abundance  exists 
in  the  country  watered  by  White  River,  many  of  whose 
numerous  branches  rise  in  or  flow  through  the  southwest 
counties  of  the  State.2  Schoolcraft,  in  1818,  journeyed 
from  Potosi  in  a  southwest  direction  through  the  State, 
and  reached  a  point  in  Stone  County,  near  Jasper,  where 

1  Mills,  Geological  Report  of  Mine  La  Motte. 

2  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  146. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  103 

he  found  lead  ore  in  abundance,  and  smelted  it  to  furnish 
bullets  for  his  guns.1 

In  1848,  galena  was  found  near  the  home  of  William 
Tingle,  situated  in  Jasper  County,  about  two  miles  from 
the  site  of  the  town  of  Joplin.  Tingle  prospected  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  soon  proved  that  the  loose  float  mineral 
surely  indicated  the  presence  of  important  deposits  of  lead 
ore  of  remarkable  purity;  and  for  some  years  ore  was 
raised  in  a  small  way,  and  either  smelted  on  the  spot  in 
primitive  furnaces,  or  sold  to  the  Granby  smelters,  in  the 
adjoining  county.  In  1850,  the  lead  deposits  in  Newton 
County  were  discovered,  on  Cedar  Creek,  near  what  is 
known  as  the  Old  Mosely  Mine.  It  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  many  persons  were  aware,  in  1850,  of  the  existence 
of  bodies  of  galena  in  Newton  and  Jasper  counties,  and  in 
that  year,  and  in  1851,  considerable  superficial  prospecting 
was  done  in  the  district,  resulting  in  the  discovery  of  many 
bodies  of  ore  lying  very  near  the  surface.  Smelting  was 
begun  in  1852,  when  the  ore  was  reduced  in  simple  log 
furnaces,  and  the  lead  reached  a  market  by  wagons  to  Fort 
Smith  on  the  Arkansas  River,  thence  by  steamers  to  New 
Orleans,  and  by  sail  to  New  York  or  Boston.  The  absence 
of  cheap  transportation,  and  the  low  price  of  lead,  ren- 
dered the  work  unprofitable,  and  operations  were  limited 
and  desultory  until  1856,  when  Messrs.  Peter  E.  Blow  and 
Ferdinand  Kennett  visited  the  district,  assured  themselves 
of  the  richness  and  extent  of  the  deposits,  and  effected  a 
lease  of  the  lands  from  the  South  Pacific  Railway  Com- 
pany, to  whom  they  had  been  granted  by  the  government. 
The  next  year,  these  enterprising  men  established  the  town 
of  Granby,  erected  furnaces  of  large  capacity  and  of  im- 
proved design,  and  began  to  develop  the  mines.  They 
worked  their  furnaces  to  their  full  capacity  until  the 

1  Schoolcraft,  Journal  of  a  Tour  into  the  Interior  of  Missouri  and  Arkansaw 
(London,  1821),  p.  55  et  seq. 


104  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War.  The  Confederate  troops, 
on  their  advance  into  the  State  in  1861,  seized  large  quan- 
tities of  lead  belonging  to  the  smelters ;  and  during  the 
war  the  furnaces  were  worked  by  both  the  Federal  and  the 
Confederate  troops,  as  the  vicissitudes  of  the  war  gave 
them  possession.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1865,  the 
mines  were  once  more  leased  to  the  successors  of  Blow  and 
Kennett,  the  Granby  Mining  and  Smelting  Company ;  the 
shafts  were  cleared  out,  the  furnaces  repaired,  new  ones 
erected,  and  operations  were  pushed  with  great  vigor.  In 
1874,  the  principal  ore  bodies  on  the  lands  controlled  by 
the  Granby  Company  showed  signs  of  exhaustion,  and  the 
product  of  this  company  since  that  time  has  materially 
declined. 

^.The  lead  fields  in  Jasper  County  did  not  attract  general 
attention  until  1870,  when  some  enterprising  men  began 
vigorously  exploiting  the  deposits,  and  the  little  hamlet  of 
Joplin  became  within  a  few  months  a  thriving  and  popu- 
lous town,  and  the  centre  of  one  of  the  important  lead- 
producing  districts  in  the  United  States. 

The  deposits  in  this,  and  the  neighboring  county  of 
Newton,  occur  in  horizontal  leads,  or  openings,  in  regular 
ranges  running  from  northwest  to  southeast.  The  country 
is  prairie  and  timber,  and  the  ore  occurs  everywhere  in 
the  clay,  in  loose  cherty  beds,  and  in  the  hard  rock ;  evi- 
dences exist  throughout  the  whole  district,  in  float  min- 
eral, or  pieces  scattered  over  the  surface  or  just  below  it, 
in  ravines  where  it  has  been  uncovered  by  the  action  of 
running  water,  and  in  the  beds  of  streams.  It  has  been 
said  that  a  shaft  cannot  be  sunk  to  a  depth  of  ten  feet  in 
any  part  of  the  district  without  striking  ore.  The  mining, 
or  digging,  has  been  superficial ;  shafts  over  a  hundred 
feet  in  depth  are  exceptional,  but,  according  to  Mr.  King- 
ston, superintendent  of  the  Granby  Company,  one  shaft 
has  been  sunk  to  the  depth  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  105 

feet,  and  the  indications  were  not  at  all  discouraging.1 
Broadhead  estimates  the  production  of  the  Granby  mines, 
from  the  beginning  of  mining  to  the  end  of  1873,  at 
27,000  tons  of  lead;  and  of  the  Joplin  district,  from  1871 
to  1873,  inclusive,  at  17,500  tons.2  Mr.  E.  A.  Caswell,  of 
New  York,  gives  the  following  as  the  production  of  the 
southwest  Missouri  mines  in  1873,  and  following  years :  — 

Year.  Tons.  Year.  Tons. 

1873  .  .  12,280  1880  .  .  15,780 

1874  .  .  13,830  1881  .  .  15,500 

1875  .  .  13,525  1882  .  .  11,670 

1876  .  .  14,634=  1883  .  .  7,645 

1877  .  .  17,765  1884  .  .  2,665 

1878  .  .  13,650  1885  .  .  6,070 

1879  .  .  13,928  1886  .  .  6,482 

The  argentiferous  lead  deposits  of  the  Great  West  first 
attracted  general  attention  about  the  year  1864,  when  the 
Eureka  district  was  organized.  A  company  was  formed 
in  New  York  to  exploit  these  deposits;  but  the  claims, 
though  very  rich,  were  soon  abandoned  on  account  of  in- 
accessibility to  a  market,  and  the  district  was  uninhabited 
for  some  years.3 

Smelting  was  successfully  conducted  at  Helena,  Mon- 
tana, and  at  Orena,  Nevada,  in  1866  and  1867,  but  the 
bullion  was  cupelled  upon  the  spot,  the  absence  of  cheap 
transportation  rendering  the  lead  in  that  wild  country 
valueless.  The  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway, 
in  1869,  brought  these,  and  other  valuable  deposits,  within 

1  The  facts  relating  to  the  Granby  and  Joplin  lead  districts  have  been  princi- 
pally supplied  by   Mr.    John  Kingston,  superintendent   Granby  Mining  and 
Smelting  Company,  of  Granby,  Mo.,  and  Judge  O.  H.  Picher  of  Joplin,  Mo., 
whose  courtesy  is  here  acknowledged. 

2  Broadhead,  G.  C.,  Report  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Missouri  for  1873-74 
(Jefferson  City,  Mo.,  1874),  p.  502. 

8  Curtis,  J.  S.,  Silver  Lead  Deposits  of  Eureka,  Nevada  (Washington, 
1884),  p.  3. 


106 


A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 


reach  of  a  market,  and  the  development  of  the  vast  silver- 
lead  deposits  of  Nevada  and  Colorado  was  fairly  entered 
upon.1  In  this  year,  mining  operations  were  reopened  at 
Eureka,  and  in  1870  the  Eureka  Company  was  formed, 
extensive  furnaces  erected,  and  from  this  date  to  1885  it 
is  estimated  that  nearly  250,000  tons  of  lead  were  pro- 
duced.2 Prior  to  1873,  special  records  of  the  production 
of  each  mining  district  in  the  far  West  are  wanting, 
though  the  statistics  of  the  total  production  of  the  States 
and  Territories  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  is  given 
in  the  Reports  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey. 
The  production  of  the  Eureka  district  is  estimated  as 
follows :  — 

Tear.  Tons.  Year.  Tons. 

1877  .  .  19,724  1882  .  .  8,590 

1878  .  .  31,063  1883  .  .  6,000 

1879  .  .  22,805  1884  .  .  4,000 

1880  .  .  16,650  1885  .  .  3,500 

1881  .  .  12,826  1886  .  .  4,500 

The  ores  of  this  district  have  been  treated  at  the  fur- 
naces of  the  Eureka  Company,  the  base  bullion  being  re- 
fined at  the  works  of  the  Richmond  Company,  or  shipped 
to  Newark,  N.  J.,  or  to  San  Francisco,  for  treatment.  The 
lead  produced  by  the  Richmond  Company  has  generally 
been  marketed  in  New  York.3 

The  lead  deposits  of  Utah  were  known  to  the  Mormons 
soon  after  their  settlement  of  the  valley  of  Salt  Lake,  but 
at  first  the  only  mining  and  smelting  done  was  to  supply 
the  wants  of  the  territory,  and  no  attempt  was  made  to 
recover  the  silver.  Later  the  ores  were  sent  East  for 

1  Mineral  Kesources  of  the  United  States  (Washington,  1883,  article  by 
O.  H.  Hahn),  p.  324. 

2  Curtis,  Silver  Lead  Deposits  of  Eureka,  p.  175. 

8  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  —  United  States  Geological  Sur- 
vey (Washington,  1883),  p.  309.  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States, — 
United  States  Geological  Survey  (Washington,  1885),  p.  418. 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  107 

reduction,  but  in  1870,  local  smelters  and  refineries  were 
erected,  and  since  that  time  operations  have  been  actively 
prosecuted.1  The  production  since  1870  is  estimated  as 
follows :  — 

Tear.  Tons.  Year.  Tons. 

1871  .  .  5,000  1879  .  .  14,000 

1872  .  .  8,000  1880  .  .  15,000 

1873  .  .  15,000  1881  .  .  24,000 

1874  .  .  20,000  1882  .  .  30,000 

1875  .  .  19,000  1883  .  .  29,000 

1876  .  .  25,000  1884  .  .  28,000 

1877  .  .  27,000  1885  .  .  29,160 

1878  .  .  21,000  1886  .  .  24,332 

It  is  said  that  in  1861  some  gulch  miners,  while  hunting 
in  Colorado,  ran  out  of  bullets,  and  finding  a  vein  of  lead 
ore,  smelted  some  of  the  outcroppings  to  supply  the  de- 
ficiency. Happening,  a  few  years  later,  to  be  in  Nevada, 
they  were  struck  with  the  resemblance  of  the  rich  argen- 
tiferous lead  ores  of  that  district  to  the  lead  vein  in  Colo- 
rado from  which  they  had  made  bullets  on  their  hunting 
expedition.  They  immediately  took  measures  to  locate 
the  vein  of  lead  ore  in  Colorado,  but  the  remoteness  from 
market  prevented  active  operations  at  the  time,  and  noth- 
ing was  done  for  many  years. 

The  production  of  lead  in  Colorado  prior  to  1878  was 
quite  unimportant,  but  from  that  time  the  increase  is  phe- 
nomenal. In  the  publications  of  the  United  States  Geo- 
logical Survey,  the  production  in  the  Territory  is  given 
as  follows :  — 

Year.  Tons.  Year.  Tons. 

1873  .  .  56  1880  .  .  35,674 

1874  .  .  312  1881  .  .  40,547 

1875  .  .  818  1882  .  .  55,000 

1876  .  .  667  1883  .  .  70,557 

1877  .  .  897  1884  .  .  63,165 

1878  .  .  6,369  1885  (estimated)  55,000 

1879  .  .  23,674  1886  .  .  48,460 

1  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  1883  and  1884,  —  Report  United 
States  Geological  Survey  (Washington,  1885),  p.  416. 


108  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

The  great  increase  since  1878  is  principally  due  to  the 
discovery  and  development  of  the  wonderful  carbonate 
deposits  near  Leadville.  The  production  of  lead  in  this 
district  is  estimated  as  follows  :  — 

Year.  Tons.  Year.  Tons. 

1877  .  .  175  1882  .  .  39,864 

1878  .  .  2,324  1883  .  .  36,870 

1879  .  .  17,650  1884  .  .  35,296 

1880  .  .  33,551  1885  .  .  19,127 

1881  .  .  38,101  1886  .  .  25,962 

The  great  falling  off  in  the  output  in  1885  may  be 
traced  to  the  exhaustion  of  some  of  the  mines ;  but  new 
discoveries  have  been  made,  and  old  shafts  are  being  car- 
ried deeper,  a  draining  tunnel  is  being  constructed,  and  it 
is  believed  that  the  output  will  largely  increase. 

Extensive  lead  deposits  have  lately  been  discovered  at 
Aspen,  and  at  other  points  near  or  tributary  to  Leadville, 
and  the  completion  of  projected  railways  will  bring  to  the 
Leadville  smelters  an  abundant  supply  of  ore. 

During  the  past  few  years  the  output  of  lead  in  Mon- 
tana has  steadily  increased,  and  now  that  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway  affords  an  outlet,  this  Territory  promises 
to  become  an  important  source  of  supply. 

Considerable  activity  has  lately  been  developed  in  the 
mining  of  lead  ores  in  Idaho ;  numerous  important  de- 
posits are  known  to  exist,  and  the  output  of  1882  is  esti- 
mated to  have  yielded  5,000  tons  of  lead.  The  increase 
in  the  two  succeeding  years  did  not  equal  expectations, 
but  in  1884  the  production  is  estimated  at  7,500  tons. 

New  Mexico  has  shown  a  decided  increase  in  the  pro- 
duction of  lead  during  the  past  three  years.  The  deposits 
of  ore  in  the  Territory  are  known  to  be  large  and  excep- 
tionally rich  in  lead,  though  carrying  a  smaller  amount  of 
silver  than  the  ores  of  other  western  districts.  The  produc- 
tion in  1883  has  been  estimated  at  2,400  tons,  increasing 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  109 

to  5,000  tons  in  1884,  9,000  tons  in  1885,  and  9,800  tons 
in  1886. 

The  shipment  of  ores  and  concentrates  from  one  State 
or  Territory  to  another,  during  the  past  three  years,  ren- 
ders it  impossible  now  to  arrive  at  trustworthy  estimates 
of  the  production  of  each  State  or  Territory;  and  the 
attempt  to  compile  such  statistics  has  been  abandoned, 
since  1884,  by  the  Geological  Survey.  This  Bureau  has 
contented  itself  with  giving  the  total  production  of  the 
United  States,  divided  into  the  quantities  derived  from 
argentiferous  and  non-argentiferous  ores.  This  division 
is  possible  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  non-argentiferous 
ores  are  principally  produced  in  Missouri,  Kansas,  Illinois, 
and  Wisconsin ;  but  these  data  are  not  perhaps  infallible, 
as  the  smelting  works  at  St.  Louis,  and  perhaps  at  Kansas 
City,  usually  working  argentiferous  lead  ores  and  bullion, 
have  purchased  considerable  quantities  of  Missouri  and 
Kansas  ores  to  mix  with  dry  ores  obtained  from  Mexico 
and  elsewhere. 

By  reference  to  the  report  of  the  Geological  Survey  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  lead  production  of  the  United  States 
culminated  in  1883,  when  the  total  output  reached  143,957 
tons.  This  production  was  in  excess  of  the  demands  of  the 
country,  and  a  period  of  depression  ensued,  during  which 
the  value  of  the  metal  was  abnormally  low.  To  add  to  the 
unsatisfactory  state  of  the  lead-mining  industry  at  this  time, 
silver  declined  largely  and  steadily,  and  many  mines  were 
abandoned  and  prospecting  operations  were  checked.  The 
result  is  shown  in  the  decreased  output,  which  fell  to  139,897 
tons  in  1884,  and  to  129,412  tons  in  1885.  During  the 
latter  part  of  that  year  an  unusually  heavy  demand  for 
consumption  cleared  out  the  surplus  stocks,  and  a  sharp 
advance  in  the  price  of  lead  occurred.  Silver  continued 
to  decline  during  the  early  part  of  1886,  but  the  advance 
in  the  price  of  lead  stimulated  mining  enterprises ;  and 


110  A  HISTORY   OF   LEAD. 

the  extension  of  existing  railways,  and  the  building  and 
projection  of  new  ones,  brought  new  territory  and  new 
deposits  within  reach  of  a  market,  resulting  in  the  in- 
crease of  the  production  in  1886  to  135,629  tons.  A  re- 
vival in  mining  interests  developed  in  1886,  and  in  some 
sections  reached  proportions  almost  unexampled.  The  re- 
sult is  the  opening  up  of  many  old  and  abandoned  claims, 
and  a  vigorous  prospecting  of  new  territory.  While  the 
disappointments  must  far  outweigh  the  successes,  the  re- 
sults must  certainly  lead  to  a  more  thorough  prospecting 
of  the  mining  region,  to  a  more  successful  exploitation  of 
some  old  mines,  and  to  an  increased  production  in  1887. 
Should  the  present  anticipations  be  realized,  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  the  output  for  1887  will  reach,  the  amount 
produced  in  the  year  of  the  greatest  prosperity  of  the 
American  lead-mining  industry. 

There  are  extensive  deposits  of  argentiferous  galena  in 
Mexico  ;  but  the  inaccessibility  of  some  of  the  mining 
districts,  and  the  disturbed  condition  of  others,  has  here- 
tofore impeded  operations,  and  the  production  of  lead  in 
this  country  has  been  comparatively  insignificant.  Lead 
is  produced  in  sufficient  quantities  to  supply  the  meagre 
wants  of  the  inhabitants,  and  for  metallurgical  purposes. 
Lead  ore  is  exported  in  limited  but  increasing  quantities 
to  the  United  States,  and  a  small  amount  of  argentiferous 
lead  is  exported  to  Great  Britain.  The  completion  of 
several  lines  of  railway,  and  the  projection  of  others, 
has  drawn  attention  to  this  country  as  another  field 
for  American  mining  enterprise. 

The  Mexicans,  before  the  Conquest,  were  familiar  with 
gold,  silver,  copper,  tin,  and  lead,  —  the  latter  obtained 
from  their  mines  at  Tasco.  Their  mining  operations  were 
extensive,  notwithstanding  their  only  implements  were  of 
bronze,  made  from  their  own  tin  and  copper ;  they  had 
ample  stores  of  iron  ore,  but  were  unacquainted  with 


LEAD  MINING  IN  AMERICA.  Ill 

methods  for  reducing  it.  If  they  were  able  to  work  their 
mines  below  the  water  level,  like  some  of  their  Spanish 
successors,  who  were  too  poor  to  erect  pumping-engines, 
they  must  have  relied  upon  buckets  of  hide  to  remove 
that  obstacle.1 

The  Spaniards  opened  mines  in  Mexico  as  early  as  1526, 
and  worked  them  until  1810.  The  period  of  greatest 
activity,  however,  was  subsequent  to  1700.  The  war  for 
independence  occasioned  a  partial  or  complete  cessation 
of  mining,  and  many  mines  were  abandoned.  After  the 
expulsion  of  the  Spaniards  English  capitalists  became  in- 
terested in  Mexican  mines,  and  for  some  years  persisted, 
at  great  loss,  in  clearing  out  the  old  mines  and  erecting 
new  and  improved  machinery ;  but  the  absence  of  cheap 
transportation  proved  a  barrier  to  profitable  work.  For 
some  years  the  disturbed  political  condition  of  Mexico, 
and  the  raids  of  the  Apaches  in  the  important  mining 
States  of  Chihuahua,  Sonora,  and  Durango,  depressed  min- 
ing interests  and  discouraged  the  introduction  of  foreign 
capital  and  skill.  Now,  however,  the  completion  of  rail- 
ways, the  subjugation  of  the  Apaches,  the  presence  of  for- 
eign capital,  and  the  introduction  of  improved  machinery, 
has  stimulated  mining  interests,  and  we  may  look  for 
a  period  of  prosperity  which  will  equal  the  best  days  of 
Spanish  occupation.2 

While  the  attention  of  capital  interested  in  Mexican 
mining  has  heretofore  been  directed  almost  exclusively  to 
the  production  of  silver,  the  extension  of  the  railway  sys- 
tem will,  in  the  near  future,  give  additional  value  to  the 
argentiferous  lead  ores,  by  making  the  lead  an  important 
factor  in  the  metallurgy  of  this  interesting  country.  Al- 

1  W.  H.  Prescott,  History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico  (Philadelphia,  1863, 
3  vols.),  vol.  i.  p.  38.     See  also  H.  H.  Bancroft,  The  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific 
States,  vol.  ii.  p.  473. 

2  Charles  B.  Dahlgren,  Historic  Mines  of  Mexico  (New  York,  1883),  p.  20 
et  seq. 


112  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

though  but  little  information  exists  of  the  extent  of  the 
lead  deposits,  enough  is  known  to  warrant  the  statement 
that  they  are  abundant  and  valuable. 

In  the  States  of  Guanaxuato  and  Zacatecas  there  are 
important  deposits  of  argentiferous  galenas ;  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Mazapil,  in  the  latter  State,  the  mines  discovered 
in  1530  continue  to  be  profitably  worked,  although  the 
raids  of  the  Apaches  occasioned  an  almost  entire  abandon- 
ment of  them  for  a  considerable  period.  In  Sonora  and 
Chihuahua  the  ores  in  some  mines  resemble  those  of  Lead- 
ville,  Colorado,  and  Eureka,  Nevada.  In  the  district  of 
Santa  Barbara,  and  in  the  districts  of  Cuencame  and 
Mapimi  in  Durango,  argentiferous  lead  ores  exist.  In 
Coahuila,  the  argentiferous  lead  deposits  have  been  worked 
by  the  Mexicans  for  years.  In  Jalisco,  Michoacan,  and 
in  other  States  mentioned  by  Dahlgren,  there  are  well  de- 
fined lead  deposits.  The  mines  of  Tasco  were  the  first 
worked  by  the  Spaniards.  In  Hidalgo,  in  the  district  of 
Zimapan,  large  quantities  of  lead  ore  have  been  taken  out 
by  the  owners.1  The  San  Antonio  and  other  mines  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Monterey  are  worked  by  Americans,  but 
the  output  is  unimportant.2 

Were  it  not  for  the  duty  on  lead  ores  the  deposits  of 
Mexico  would  be  actively  exploited,  and  shipped  in  large 
quantities  to  the  smelters  in  the  United  States.  The  ab- 
sence of  fuel  in  the  neighborhood  of  some  of  the  more 
important  mines  makes  smelting  expensive,  but  labor  is 
much  cheaper  than  in  the  United  States,  and  when  the 
deposits  in  'the  Rocky  Mountain  district  are  exhausted, 
our  smelters  will  look  to  Mexico  for  supplies. 

The  evidence  afforded  by  old  Spanish  writers  shows  con- 
clusively that  the  native  Peruvians,  before  the  conquest, 

1  Dahlgren,  Historic  Mines  of  Mexico,  p.  61  et  seq. 

2  B.  C.  Campbell,  in  United  States  Consular  Eeport  No.  67  (Washington, 
1886),  p.  493. 


LEAD  MINING  IN   AMERICA.  113 

were  acquainted  with  lead  in  its  metallic  state.  Modern 
explorers  have  discovered,  among  the  spoils  of  ancient 
Peruvian  graves,  articles  of  lead  and  of  bronze,  —  thus 
corroborating  the  statements  of  the  Spanish  writers,  and 
proving  that  the  South  American  aborigines  were  much 
more  advanced  in  civilization  than  the  tribes  inhabiting 
the  district  now  included  in  the  United  States,  and  were 
familiar  with  the  process  of  smelting  and  other  metallur- 
gical operations.  According  to  Tschudi,  the  Cordillera  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Tauli  is  exceedingly  rich  in  argen- 
tiferous lead  ore,  and  more  than  eight  hundred  shafts  have 
been  sunk ;  but  owing  to  the  scarcity  or  high  cost  of  labor 
and  fuel  (wood  is  not  to  be  had,  and  the  smelter  relies 
entirely  upon  the  dried  dung  of  sheep,  llamas,  and  huana- 
cos),  the  work  has  been  unprofitable.  The  Portuguese 
formerly  worked  the  deposits  in  this  district  very  exten- 
sively, but  were  driven  from  the  country,  and  their  works 
have  been  abandoned.1 

There  is  no  doubt  of  the  great  mineral  wealth  of  South 
America.  Lead  abounds  in  the  mountains  of  Peru,  Bo- 
livia, Chili,  in  Uraguay,  and  in  other  States  ;  but  owing  to 
the  absence  of  transportation  facilities  and  the  unsettled 
state  of  society,  little  exploration  has  been  attempted. 
When  the  political  troubles  are  settled,  and  railways  are 
constructed  into  the  elevated  districts,  that  continent  will 
doubtless  become  an  important  centre  for  the  distribution 
of  metals  to  the  civilized  world. 

1  Dr.  J.  J.  Yon  Tschudi,  Travels  in  Peru  during  the  years  1838-42,  translated 
by  Thomasina  Ross  (New  York,  1852),  pp.  198,  200. 

8 


CHAPTER    VI. 

SMELTING  AND   KEFINING. 

LEAD  is  rarely  found  pure  in  nature,  and  when  it  occurs 
in  this  form  it  is  generally  in  thin  plates  or  in  small 
pellets,  and  is  much  like  commercial  lead  in  appearance. 
The  principal  ores  and  those  from  which  the  lead  of  com- 
merce is  almost  exclusively  derived,  are  the  sulphide  and 
the  carbonate ;  the  other  ores  are  rarely  found  in  consider- 
able quantities,  and  are  consequently  of  little  commercial 
importance,  though  many  are  of  more  than  ordinary  inter- 
est to  the  mineralogist. 

Native  lead  sulphide,  or  "  galena,"  the  name  by  which 
it  is  commonly  known,  is  the  most  important,  and  the 
most  widely  distributed  ore  of  lead.  The  origin  of  the 
name  "galena"  is  doubtful,  and  much  confusion  existed  in 
ancient  times  in  its  use.  Pliny  applies  it  to  "  the  vein  of 
lead  that  is  mostly  found  running  near  the  veins  of  silver 
ore ; "  l  he  also  applies  the  name  to  "  litharge,"  one  of  the 
products  formed  in  the  refining  of  argentiferous  lead  by 
the  process  of  cupellation ; 2  he  refers  to  it  again  as  "  a 
mineral  compounded  of  silver  and  lead ;  "  and  in  another 
chapter  he  says  it  is  the  same  as  molybdena.3 

Galena  generally  contains,  invisibly  associated  with  it, 
gold,  silver,  antimony,  zinc,  copper,  iron,  and  occasionally 
nickel  and  cobalt ;  and  it  frequently  has  visibly  associated 

1  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiii.  chap.  xxxi. 

2  Ibid.,  book  xxxiv.  chap,  xlvii.  8  Ibid.,  book  xxxiv.  chap.  lii. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  115 

with  it  zinc  blende,  iron  and  copper  pyrites,  barium  sul- 
phate, etc.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  gold  and  silver 
are  always  associated  with  lead  in  galena,  even  the  purest 
ores  containing  at  least  a  trace  of  the  noble  metals.  The 
purest  galena  contains  about  86  per  cent  of  lead,  and  14  per 
cent  of  sulphur ;  it  is  found  in  nearly  every  geological  for- 
mation, and  in  nearly  every  country  on  the  globe  ;  it  is  one 
of  the  most  important  sources  of  silver, — the  ores  carrying 
this  precious  metal  in  economical  quantities  being  generally 
found  in  the  older  and  metamorphosed  rocks.  Galena  has 
been  employed  in  some  countries,  when  very  pure,  under 
the  name  of  alquifoux  or  potters'  ore,  for  glazing  coarse 
pottery,  and  earthenware ;  and  it  is  exported  from  coun- 
tries bordering  upon  the  Mediterranean  to  Egypt,  where  it 
has  been  used  for  ages  as  a  remedy  for  ophthalmia. 

Cerussite,  or  native  lead  carbonate,  is  also  a  widely 
distributed  ore,  though  it  is  seldom  found  in  large  quan- 
tities, except  in  the  region  in  and  about  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, in  Prussia  near  Diiren,  in  Bavaria,  near  Cartagena 
in  Spain,  and  if  recent  reports  are  verified,  in  the  Broken 
Hill  district  in  New  South  Wales.  This  mineral  was 
not  considered  as  of  much  commercial  importance  until 
the  immense  deposits  in  Nevada  and  Colorado  were  dis- 
covered. Cerussite  is  commonly  associated  with  galena, 
and  is  thought  to  be  formed  by  the  action  of  atmospheric 
oxygen,  or  of  oxygen  dissolved  in  water,  combined  prob- 
ably with  an  aqueous  solution  of  calcium  carbonate,  upon 
galena. 

Some  of  the  other  ores  of  lead  are  the  sulphate,  found  in 
many  parts  of  Europe  and  America,  the  chromate,  molyb- 
date,  and  many  other  minerals,  more  or  less  common, 
formed  of  various  combinations  of  lead  with  sulphur, 
arsenic,  copper,  etc.,  none  of  which  are  of  much  commer- 
cial importance,  their  occurrence  being  usually  in  small 
quantities. 


116  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

The  ores  of  lead  do  not  always  form  true  veins,  but 
often  occur  in  irregular  pockets  or  caves,  and  gashes  in  the 
rocks,  frequently  very  rich  in  certain  strata,  and  thinning 
or  giving  out  entirely  upon  entering  another.  In  the  lead 
fields  of  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin,  masses  of  ore 
are  found  in  the  clay,  having  been  washed  out  from  the 
decomposing  rocks  in  which  it  was  originally  deposited 
and  left  irregularly  distributed  through  the  soil.1 

The  earliest  writers  refer  to  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead, 
and  iron  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  evident  that  the 
simpler  processes  of  metallurgy  were  known  at  a  very 
remote  period.  Whence  this  knowledge  originated,  and 
what  were  the  methods  adopted,  we  have  no  means  of 
determining.  Ancient  writers  refer  to  furnaces  for  smelt- 
ing purposes,  but  give  no  explanation  of  their  construction. 
The  first  distinct  description  of  a  furnace  for  smelting 
metals  appears  in  the  writings  of  Geber,  an  author  of  the 
eighth  century. 

The  Chaldeans,  Egyptians,  and  the  people  of  the  Orient, 
were  acquainted  with  metallurgical  processes  in  their  sim- 
ple forms,  and  imparted  this  knowledge  to  the  Hebrews, 
Greeks,  and  Romans.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  ab- 
sence of  intelligible  descriptions  of  ancient  metallurgical 
methods  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  Romans 
were  obliged  to  trust  important  mining  and  metallurgical 
works  to  foreigners,  —  prisoners-of-war,  and  slaves,  —  who, 
to  render  themselves  of  more  consequence,  threw  a  veil  of 
mystery  about  their  operations.2  But  a  sufficient  expla- 
nation may  perhaps  be  found,  if  we  consider  that  metal- 
lurgical operations,  such  as  smelting  and  refining,  were 
conducted  in  ancient  times  in  the  mountains  near  the 
mines,  in  districts  comparatively  inaccessible  to  the  writ- 
ers in  whose  works  we  search  for  descriptions  of  the 

1  See  Whitney,  Metallic  Wealth  of  the  United  States,  p.  412. 

2  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  etc.,  p.  712. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  117 

methods  employed,  so  that  they  were  obliged  to  depend 
upon  the  statements  of  others  for  a  knowledge  of  these 
technicalities. 

The  ancients  of  course  were  ignorant  of  modern  theories, 
and  the  meagre  descriptions  we  have  of  their  methods  are 
frequently  cumbered  with  absurd  empirical  recipes ;  but 
they  successfully  conducted  metallurgical  processes,  many 
of  which  have  some  claim  to  refinement ;  and  if  we  elimi- 
nate the  absurdities  from  the  descriptions  of  their  methods, 
we  find  that  their  processes  differ  but  little  from  those  in 
use  to-day,  and  that  these  differences  are  generally  only 
such  as  are  consequent  upon  the  employment  in  modern 
times  of  more  efficient  and  powerful  apparatus.1 

The  smelting  of  pure  galena  is  a  comparatively  simple 
metallurgical  operation,  and  the  process  has  probably  been 
independently  discovered  by  primitive  peoples  wherever 
the  ore  occurred.  Lamborn  says  that  the  early  settler 
in  Missouri  learned  to  procure,  the  lead  for  his  bullets  by 
building  a  fire  in  the  hollow  of  a  fallen  tree  or  in  an  old 
stump,  and  throwing  upon  it  pieces  of  galena  which  he 
had  found  upon  the  ground ;  he  recovered  the  lead  from 
the  ashes.2  The  furnaces  of  primitive  man  were  modelled 
upon  this  simple  plan. 

As  stated  above,  the  purer  galena  is  composed  of  lead 
and  sulphur,  with  small  quantities,  often  mere  traces,  of 
other  metals.  Were  the  ore  a  combination  of  lead  and 
oxygen,  then  mixing  with  charcoal  and  heating  in  a  fur- 
nace would  liberate  the  metal ;  but  a  compound  of  lead 
and  sulphur,  when  subjected  to  a  moderate  heat  with  ac- 
cess of  air,  is  partially  transformed  into  lead  sulphate  and 
lead  oxide,  which  reacting,  when  the  temperature  is  raised, 
upon  the  unchanged  galena,  results  in  the  production  of 
metallic  lead,  while  the  sulphur  and  oxygen  are  liberated 

1  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  etc.,  p.  712. 

2  Lamborn,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead  and  Silver,  p.  132. 


118  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

and  escape  as  sulphurous  acid  gas.  The  extemporized  fur- 
nace of  the  Missouri  hunter  did  not  freely  permit  the  reac- 
tion just  described,  and  while  it  enabled  him  to  secure  a 
portion  of  the  metallic  lead  contained  in  the  ore,  it  failed 
to  reduce  all ;  so  that  primitive  smelting  was  wasteful  in 
the  extreme,  and  as  shown  elsewhere,  the  slag  and  ash- 
heaps  left  by  the  early  metallurgists  have  been  reworked 
in  modern  times  with  great  profit. 

In  the  absence  of  written  accounts  of  the  ancient  methods 
of  smelting,  modern  investigators  have  been  obliged  to 
study  the  location  and  surroundings  of  old  slag  heaps, 
which  are  found  in  great  numbers  and  often  of  prodigious 
size  in  the  neighborhood  of  lead  deposits  anciently  worked, 
and  to  deduce  therefrom  the  methods  employed  in  ancient 
times. 

According  to  Leger,  the  Romans  reduced  galena  in 
"  fourneaux  a  manche,"  —  the  simplest  form  of  ancient  fur- 
naces. They  were  small  and  were  used  in  Spain,  England, 
Tuscany,  and  Greece,  for  the  reduction  of  the  ores  of  cop- 
per, iron,  tin,  and  lead.1  This  author  also  refers  to  the 
fact  that  during  the  time  of  the  Empire  the  Romans  estab- 
lished Imperial  foundries,  where  the  ores  of  the  mines  of 
conquered  countries,  and  the  " Imperial  tenth"  paid  by 
private  exploiters  were  treated.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
the  pigs  of  lead  bearing  the  names  of  Roman  emperors, 
and  found  in  modern  times  in  England  and  in  France, 
were  the  property  of  the  State,  and  were  smelted  at  the 
Imperial  foundries.2  Smelting  in  the  Urals,  by  metallur- 
gists of  the  second  century  B.C.,  was  conducted  in  brick 
furnaces  not  over  two  feet  high  and  three  feet  wide. 
Gmelin  is  said  to  have  found  many  hundreds  of  such  fur- 
naces in  eastern  Siberia.  They  were  furnished  with  a  hole 
for  the  introduction  of  the  nose  of  the  bellows,  and  with 
another  on  the  opposite  side  for  the  liberation  of  the  metal. 

1  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  p.  715.  3  Ibid.,  p.  712. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  119 

Great  heaps  of  debris  attest  the  extent  of  the  ancient 
operations.1 

The  ancient  Briton,  before  the  Conquest,  dug  a  pit  which 
he  filled  with  broken  ore  and  fuel ;  upon  firing  the  mass 
the  lead,  as  it  was  melted,  ran  out  of  the  pit  into  another 
and  smaller  depression  in  the  ground  prepared  to  receive  it, 
and  connected  with  the  principal  pit  by  a  narrow  channel.2 
The  Indians  of  the  upper  Mississippi  smelted  the  pure 
ores  of  that  region  in  the  following  manner :  large  logs 
were  placed  upon  the  ground,  and  smaller  logs  and  pieces 
of  split  wood  were  piled  around  them ;  the  ore  was  then 
heaped  upon  the  pile  and  the  mass  fired  in  the  evening  ; 
the  next  morning,  the  fuel  being  exhausted,  the  ashes  were 
raked  and  the  melted  lead  recovered.  Sometimes  the  log 
heaps  were  built  over  a  small  pit  dug  in  the  ground  to 
receive  the  molten  metal.  Mention  is  made  elsewhere  of 
the  discovery  of  cakes  of  lead  in  England  which  were 
evidently  products  of  similar  furnaces. 

In  these  descriptions  of  primitive  smelting  no  reference 
is  made  to  methods  for  urging  the  fires.  A  moderate  blast 
of  air  is  certainly  necessary  to  the  successful  reduction  of 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  ore.  It  is  probable  that  in 
the  methods  just  described  the  pits  and  ore  heaps  were 
placed  upon  sloping  ground,  —  the  side  of  a  hill,  —  to  take 
advantage  of  natural  air-currents. 

The  ancient  Peruvians,  before  the  Spanish  conquest, 
smelted  their  argentiferous  ores  by  heating  them  in  earth- 
en pots.  Knowing  no  method  of  creating  an  artificial 
blast,  they  carried  them  to  the  hills,  and  placed  them  on 
that  side  of  the  hill  towards  which  the  wind  was  blowing. 
They  regulated  the  force  of  the  blast  by  carrying  them 
higher  or  lower  according  to  the  strength  of  the  wind.3 

1  Phillips  and  Darlington,  Records  of  Mining  and  Metallurgy,  p.  17. 

2  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  61. 

3  Royal  Commentaries  of  Peru,  Garcilaso  de  la  Vega,  translated  by  Sir  Paul 
Ricaut  (London,  1688),  p.  346. 


120  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

Ancient  s melting-places  have  been  found  in  England,  called 
"  boles,"  situated  generally  upon  rising  ground,  usually 
upon  that  side  of  the  hill  facing  the  west,  the  direction  of 
the  prevailing  winds.  Sometimes  these  boles  were  situated 
in  a  small  ravine  or  depression  in  the  hill,  or  pits  were 
excavated  as  already  described ;  occasionally  these  smelt- 
ing places  consisted  simply  of  heaps  of  stones  placed  around 
a  fire.1  Camden  refers  to  this  method  of  smelting  in  de- 
scribing the  lead  deposits  of  Derbyshire.  He  says  :  "  For 
in  these  mountains  fertile  lead-stones  are  daily  digged  up 
in  great  aboundance,  which  upon  the  hill-tops  lying  open 
to  the  west  winde,  neere  unto  Creach  and  Workes-  Worth 
(which  hereupon  took  the  name  of  the  lead-workes)  when 
the  westerne  winde  beginnes  to  blow  (which  winde  of  all 
others  they  have  by  experience  found  to  hold  longest) 
they  melt  with  mighty  great  fires  of  wood  into  lead,  in 
troughes  or  trenches  which  they  digge  of  purpose  for  it  to 
runne  into,  and  so  make  it  up  into  Sowes"  2  According 
to  tradition  the  earliest  mode  of  smelting  tin  in  Cornwall 
consisted  simply  of  making  a  pile  of  sticks  and  ore  in 
the  open ;  when  fired  the  molten  metal  flowed  from  the 
bottom.3  A  furnace  used  by  the  Indians  of  the  upper 
Mississippi  is  described  by  a  recent  writer  as  follows  :  "  A 
hole  was  dug  in  the  face  of  a  piece  of  sloping  ground, 
about  two  feet  deep  and  the  same  in  width  at  the  top, 
with  sloping  sides  assuming  the  shape  of  a  mill-hopper  ; 
this  pit  was  lined  with  flat  stones  and  at  the  bottom, 
which  was  eight  or  nine  inches  square,  narrow  stones  were 
laid  across  like  grate  bars.  A  channel  was  dug  from  the 
sloping  ground  inward  to  the  bottom  of  the  pit  or  hop- 
per, a  foot  in  width  and  height,  and  was  filled  with  dry 

1  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  etc.,  p.  216. 

2  Camden,  Britain,  etc.,  p.  556. 

8  John  Phillips,  Thoughts  on  Ancient  Metallurgy,  —  ArchzeologicalJournal 
of  Archaeological  Institute  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  vol.  xvi. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  121 

wood  or  brush ;  the  hopper  being  filled  with  ore  and  the 
fuel  ignited,  the  melted  lead  fell  through  the  stone  grate 
bars  and  flowed  through  the  channel  into  a  rude  mould 
arranged  at  the  entrance  to  receive  it ;  when  cooled,  the 
mould  of  lead,  which  was  called  a  "plat,"  and  weighed 
about  seventy  pounds,  was  ready  to  be  sold  to  the  tra- 
ders.1 The  work,  we  are  told,  was  principally  undertaken 
by  the  squaws,  —  a  statement  we  can  readily  accept,  as 
being  quite  in  accordance  with  the  well-known  character 
of  the  North  American  Indians. 

The  French  smelters  of  southeast  Missouri  probably 
borrowed  their  methods  of  smelting  from  the  Indians. 
They  prepared  heaps  of  logs,  upon  which  they  piled  the 
ore ;  near  the  foot  of  the  heap  they  made  an  excavation 
in  the  ground,  of  the  shape,  but  somewhat  larger  than,  a 
brick ;  they  then  stuck  a  small  stick  upright  in  the  centre 
of  this  mould.  When  the  lead  was  melted  and  began  to 
run,  it  was  guided  by  a  little  channel,  prepared  beforehand, 
into  the  mould,  and  when  cool  a  pig  of  lead  with  a  hole 
through  it  had  been  formed.  As  these  pigs  of  lead  were 
to  be  transported  to  the  river,  some  thirty  miles  away, 
a  rawhide  rope  was  run  through  the  hole  ;  the  pig  could 
then  be  swung  over  the  shoulder  of  a  man,  or  the  back  of 
a  horse. 

The  log  furnace  of  the  early  smelter  of  the  Missouri 
and  the  upper  Mississippi  mines  was  but  little  better  than 
the  furnaces  of  the  squaws,  except  that  its  construction 
was  somewhat  more  substantial.  It  was  built  on  sloping 
ground,  and  consisted  of  a  hearth  of  stone,  surrounded  on 
the  front  and  two  sides  by  a  stone  wall,  seven  feet  high 
in  front.  The  top  and  the  rear  end  were  left  open ;  in 

1  Harper's  Magazine,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  682.  Bradbury  describes  the  method  of 
smelting  by  the  squaws  of  the  "  Saukee  and  Fox  "  nations  of  Indians  in  much 
the  same  manner.  He  says  the  plats  of  lead  were  bought  by  the  traders,  who 
remelted  it  and  cast  it  in  pigs  before  sending  it  to  market.  —  Travels  in  the 
Interior  of  America,  p.  255. 


122  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

front  an  arch  or  opening  was  made,  forming  the  eye  of  the 
furnace,  and  in  front  of  this  a  pit  was  dug  in  the  ground, 
to  receive  the  molten  metal.  Large  logs  were  rolled  in 
at  the  back  and  made  to  rest  upon  ledges  formed  inside,  to 
raise  them  from  the  hearth  and  to  give  a  draught ;  these 
logs  filled  the  entire  width  of  the  furnace.  Small  split 
logs  were  then  set  up  around  on  the  two  sides  and  the 
front,  and  the  ore  was  then  piled  on  until  the  furnace  was 
full.  Finally,  the  mass  was  covered  with  logs  and  fuel 
until  the  ore  was  completely  surrounded.  A  gentle  heat 
was  started,  which  was  raised  very  gradually  ;  after 
twelve  hours  the  heat  was  increased  and  continued  for 
twelve  hours  more,  —  twenty-four  hours  being  required 
for  each  smelting.  The  ore  yielded  about  fifty  per  cent 
of  metallic  lead.  A  considerable  quantity  of  the  ore  was 
not  desulphurized,  and  fell  between  the  logs  into  the 
ashes,  forming  a  kind  of  slag,  which  was  called  "lead 
ashes ;  "  this  was  rich  in  lead,  and  was  frequently  treated 
in  a  furnace  of  a  peculiar  construction,  called  an  "ash 
furnace."  This  also  was  built  upon  sloping  ground  and 
was  provided  with  a  sloping  flue,  about  ten  feet  long, 
through  which  the  lead  ashes,  after  washing  and  cleaning, 
was  charged  with  a  quantity  of  silicious  sand  or  other 
material  to  form  a  flux.  The  ash-furnace  recovered  from 
ten  to  twenty  per  cent  of  lead.1 

The  slag,  or  lead  ashes,  was  largely  thrown  aside  by  early 
smelters  as  refuse,  but  in  later  times  modern  methods  have 
enabled  their  successors  to  recover  vast  quantities  of  metal 
from  these  old  heaps.  According  to  Hunt,  in  ten  years, 
from  1870  to  1880,  upwards  of  nine  thousand  tons  of  lead 
were  produced  from  the  slags  and  scoriae  left  by  ancient 
miners  in  the  district  of  the  Mendipp  Hills,  in  England.2 
Special  furnaces  have  been  erected  in  Spain  to  rework  the 

1  Schoolcraft,  Views  of  the  Lead  Mines,  etc.,  p.  93. 

2  Hunt,  British  Mining,  p.  33. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  123 

old  slags  of  the  Carthaginian,  Roman,  and  Moorish  smelter. 
The  slag  heaps  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Laurium  mines,  in 
Greece,  exploited  before  the  Christian  era,  are  being  re- 
worked to-day  and  yield  large  profits ;  and  the  slags  of 
the  early  Missouri  smelters  have  found  a  market  at  the 
smelting-works  in  St.  Louis.  In  early  days,  at  the  mines 
of  the  Mississippi  valley,  cerussite  or  native  lead  carbonate, 
called  "dry  bone"  by  old  Missouri  miners,  was  also  thrown 
aside  as  worthless. 

These  primitive  furnaces,  notwithstanding  their  waste- 
fulness, are  better  adapted  in  some  cases,  on  account  of 
their  simplicity  and  inexpensiveness,  than  those  of  more 
complete  and  perfect  construction.  In  the  mountains  of 
Peru,  the  natives,  depending  for  fuel,  as  they  are  obliged  to 
do,  solely  upon  the  dried  dung  of  the  llamas  and  huanacos, 
successfully  smelt  the  argentiferous  lead  ores  in  furnaces 
of  the  most  primitive  construction.  When  the  fuel  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  furnace  is  exhausted,  they  abandon 
the  place  and  build  another  furnace  in  a  more  favored 
locality.1 

The  furnaces  heretofore  described  depended,  as  has  been 
seen,  solely  upon  natural  air-currents  for  a  blast ;  but  the 
use  of  the  bellows  for  producing  an  artificial  blast  ante- 
dates written  history.  On  the  walls  of  a  tomb  in  Egypt, 
dating,  according  to  Wilkinson,  to  1500  B.  c.,  a  scene  is 
depicted  representing  the  use  of  bellows  in  smelting  iron. 
The  fire  is  made  upon  the  ground  and  is  urged  by  a  blast 
produced  by  two  pairs  of  bellows  worked  by  two  men. 
The  operator,  standing  with  a  bellows  under  each  foot, 
pressed  each  alternately,  raising  with  a  string  the  exhaus- 
ted skin.2  The  prophet  Ezekiel  refers  to  an  artificial  blast 
in  the  passage,  "  As  they  gather  the  silver  and  brass  and 
iron  and  lead  and  tin  into  the  midst  of  the  furnace,  to 

1  Tschudi,  Travels  in  Peru,  etc.,  p.  199. 

2  Wilkinson,  The  Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  ii.  p.  306. 


124  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

blow  the  fire  upon  it,  to  melt  it."1  Watson  says :  "  In 
comparatively  modern  times  the  furnaces  of  the  Greeks 
were  located  on  the  banks  of  streams,  so  that  the  bellows 
for  supplying  the  blast  were  driven  by  water-power;  but 
in  the  mountains  of  Macedonia,  where  mines  were  wrought 
in  the  days  of  Philip,  great  heaps  of  slag  have  been  dis- 
covered so  far  above  any  river  that  the  bellows  could  not 
have  been  worked  by  water-power,  and  the  smelters  must 
have  depended  upon  natural  air-currents."  2  But  the  bel- 
lows may  have  been  worked  by  men,  as  Leger,  quoting 
Ledoux,  describes  an  ancient  furnace  discovered  in  the 
midst  of  a  heap  of  scoriae  surrounding  some  ancient  works 
in  Attica.  It  was  very  low,  cylindrical,  about  three  feet 
in  diameter,  and  was  constructed  of  refractory  material. 
The  fuel  was  charcoal,  and  the  blast  was  furnished  by 
bellows  worked  by  men.  Above  the  furnace  high  chim- 
neys created  a  draught  and  carried  away  the  deleterious 
fumes  of  lead.3 

In  Peru  the  Spaniards  introduced  windmills  to  work  the 
bellows  of  the  smelters.4  According  to  Percy,  in  some 
districts  of  India  the  natives  still  smelt  galena  in  a  small 
way  by  simple  primitive  methods,  in  some  cases  using  an 
artificial  blast,  but  generally  depending  upon  natural  air- 
currents;  and  the  same  author  quotes  from  an  article 
published  in  1668  in  "  Philosophical  Transactions,"  which 
describes  a  sm  el  ting-furnace  as  a  hearth  about  five  feet 
high,  set  upon  timbers  so  that  it  could  be  turned  like  a 
windmill,  to  take  advantage  of  the  wind  at  all  times.5 
The  native  Mexicans  smelt  lead  to-day  in  furnaces  of  simple 
construction,  and  provide  a  blast  by  the  use  of  a  common 


Ezekiel  xxii.  20. 

Watson,  Chemical  Essays,  vol.  iii.  p.  265. 

Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  etc.,  p.  715. 

Garcilaso  de  la  Vega,  Royal  Commentaries,  etc.,  p.  347. 

Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  p.  537. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  125 

blacksmith's  bellows  worked  by  hand.1  The  Japanese, 
according  to  Pumpelly,  smelt  lead  in  a  furnace  constructed 
as  follows :  "  A  pit  is  dug  in  the  ground  and  lined  with 
a  mixture  of  clay  and  charcoal,  forming  a  sort  of  crucible ; 
the  ore  is  mixed  with  charcoal  and  is  charged  into  the 
furnace,  when  the  blast,  which  is  produced  by  a  bellows 
and  is  introduced  into  the  crucible  through  a  clay  nozzle, 
is  applied.  After  the  ore  is  partially  melted  a  quantity 
of  pig  iron,  broken  into  small  pieces,  is  added  to  com- 
bine with  the  sulphur ;  after  a  time  the  fire  is  withdrawn, 
and  the  mass  is  allowed  to  cool,  when  the  matte  or  scum 
which  rises  to  the  top  is  removed.  This  operation  is  re- 
peated several  times,  until  the  surface  of  the  lead  is  clean, 
when  it  is  cast  into  bars.2  In  the  mining  district  of 
Ajmeer,  in  India,  the  natives  smelt  lead  in  small  blast- 
furnaces, the  blast  being  produced  by  bellows  made  of 
half-dressed  goatskins,  each  bellows  being  worked  by  one 
man.  The  ore  is  powdered  and  washed,  then  mixed  with 
its  own  weight  of  cow's-dung,  rolled  into  balls,  and  dried 
in  the  sun.  The  balls  of  dried  ore  are  fed  into  the  fur- 
nace alternately  with  charcoal,  and  after  three  or  four 
hours'  firing  the  furnace  is  tapped,  the  slag  drawn  off,  and 
the  lead  cast  into  moulds.3 

Agricola  describes  several  forms  of  furnace  for  smelting 
lead  ores,  which  do  not  differ  materially  from  the  primi- 
tive furnaces  of  the  Greeks  and  Komans.  They  are  very 
small,  and  seem  to  have  been  used  for  smelting  the  ores  of 
iron  and  copper  as  well  as  of  lead.  In  the  north  of  Italy 
the  smelters  first  cleaned  the  ore,  then  put  it  into  a  cru- 
cible, which  was  placed  in  an  open  furnace,  provided  with 
a  rectangular  opening  at  the  back  to  furnish  a  natural  air- 
current  ;  wood  was  used  as  fuel,  and  the  melted  lead  flowed 

1  United  States  Consular  Report  No.  67  (Washington,  1886),  p.  493. 

2  Pumpelly,  Across  America  and  Asia,  p.  145; 
8  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead*  p.  295; 


126  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

into  a  receptacle  in  front  of  the  furnace,  from  which  it  was 
ladled  into  moulds.  In  Saxony  a  similar  furnace  was  used, 
but  charcoal  was  employed  as  fuel.  In  Westphalia  a  pit 
was  dug,  or  a  hollow  place  in  the  side  of  a  hill  was  util- 
ized, much  in  the  manner  already  described  as  prevail- 
ing in  early  days  in  England.  Agricola  also  describes  a 
method  of  collecting  and  preserving,  in  a  chamber  above 
the  smelting-furnaces,  the  products  which  either  in  vapor 
or  fine  dust  ordinarily  escape  by  the  chimney  and  are  lost. 
These  upper  chambers,  into  which  the  tops  or  chimneys  of 
the  furnaces  projected,  were  provided  with  sloping  walls 
and  a  concave  ceiling,  and  with  a  flue,  the  opening  of 
which  was  near  the  floor  of  the  chamber.  The  gaseous 
products  of  combustion  rising  in  the  chimneys  of  the  fur- 
nace passed  into  the  chamber,  the  metallic  vapors  con- 
densed, and  were  deposited  on  the  walls  and  floor,  while 
the  smoke  and  uncondensed  gases  passed  into  the  open  air 
through  the  flue.1 

Wood  and  charcoal  were  principally  used  for  fuel  by 
the  ancient  smelter,  though  peat  was  used  in  England 
as  early  as  1201.  In  that  year  King  John  granted  to 
the  miners  of  Cornwall  and  Devon  the  right  to  dig  ore 
and  turves.2  The  introduction  of  mineral  coal  for  smelt- 
ing purposes  dates  perhaps  from  1678,  in  which  year,  and 
again  in  1692,  letters-patent  were  granted  for  smelting 
down  lead  with  pit-coal  or  sea-coal  instead  of  wood  and 
peat.3 

In  England  and  the  United  States  these  primitive  fur- 
naces were  replaced  by  a  species  of  blast-furnace  called  an 
"ore-hearth,"  a  modification  of  which,  called  the  Ameri- 
can ore-hearth,  was  and  still  is  used  in  some  districts  in 


1  Georgius  Agricola,  De  Re  Metallica,  pp.  320,  322. 

2  Phillips,  Thoughts  on  Ancient  Mining. 


8  Wm.  Maitland,  F.R.S.,  The  History  of  London,  from  the  Foundation  by 
the  Romans  to  the  Present  Time  (London,  1739),  p.  627;  also  Percy,  The  Metal- 
lurgy of  Lead,  p.  218. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  127 

the  United  States.  These  furnaces  are  well  adapted  for 
the  reduction  of  the  purer  ores.  The  reverberatory  fur- 
nace soon  displaced  the  ore-hearth  in  many  districts  in 
England  and  in  the  United  States,  and  it  is  now  almost 
exclusively  used  in  the  treatment  of  the  purer  ores ;  the 
more  refractory  ores,  or  those  carrying  silver  and  other 
metals  in  notable  quantities,  are  submitted  to  a  preliminary 
treatment  and  smelted  in  blast-furnaces,  the  construction 
of  which  varies  with  the  locality,  the  character  of  fuel, 
and  other  circumstances. 

The  ancient  smelters  did  not  succeed  in  recovering  more 
than  two  thirds  of  the  lead  present  in  the  ore  ;  and  this  is 
not  surprising  if  we  consider  their  crude  methods.  As 
a  consequence  it  is  found  that  in  all  ancient  mining  dis- 
tricts the  richer  and  purer  ores  only  were  worked,  the 
leaner  being  discarded  as  unprofitable.  It  is  probable  that 
an  ore  containing  twenty  per  cent  of  lead  would  have  been 
neglected.  The  improvement  in  modern  methods  becomes 
strikingly  apparent  if  we  compare  the  work  at  Commern, 
in  Germany,  in  1864.  The  ore  is  a  white  sandstone,  bear- 
ing lead  in  small  pellets  from  the  size  of  a  pin's  head 
to  that  of  a  pea.  In  the  year  mentioned  one  million  two 
hundred  and  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty-three 
tons  of  this  sandstone  was  moved,  producing  twenty-two 
thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety-seven  tons  of  dressed 
ore,  or  one  and  one-half  per  cent  of  lead.1  The  slags 
of  the  old  smelters  frequently  yield  fifteen  to  twenty  per 
cent  of  lead. 

The  purification  of  metals  by  fire  is  mentioned  by  Moses, 
and  frequent  references  to  this  subject  in  the  sacred  writ- 
ings clearly  show  that  at  that  time  not  only  the  recovery 
of  metals  from  their  ores  was  well  known  but  also  the 
more  difficult  and  much  more  elaborate  and  refined  metal- 
lurgical operation  of  separating  the  metals  from  each 

1  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  p.  351. 


128  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

other,  after  the  grosser  impurities  had  been  removed. 
Pliny  is  the  earliest  writer  who  gives  any  detailed  state- 
ment of  these  processes ;  but  his  descriptions  are  incom- 
plete and  obscure,  and  show  that  he  was  not  familiar  with 
the  operations  he  describes.  He  says  there  are  two  different 
sources  of  "  black-lead,"  meaning  by  this  term  the  substance 
we  know  as  metallic  lead ;  "  it  is  procured,"  he  continues, 
"  from  its  own  native  ore,  when  it  is  produced  without  the 
intermixture  of  any  other  substance  ;  "  "  black-lead  is  also 
procured,"  he  says,  "from  an  ore  which  contains  it  in  com- 
mon with  silver,  the  two  metals  being  found  together." l 
In  the  first  case  Pliny  unquestionably  refers  to  the  purer 
galenas,  which,  upon  the  application  of  heat  under  proper 
conditions,  readily  part  with  the  sulphur,  producing  metal- 
lic lead.  In  the  second  case  he  refers  to  argentiferous 
galenas;  and  he  proceeds  to  describe  the  result  of  the 
process  of  smelting  these  ores  as  follows :  "  The  metal 
which  first  becomes  liquid  is  called  '  stannum/  the  next 
that  melts  is  the  silver,  and  the  metal  which  remains  is 
'  galena.'  " 2  The  obscurity  of  this  passage  has  provoked 
much  discussion,  and  caused  an  extraordinary  amount  of 
research  in  the  effort  to  make  the  description  conform  to 
modern  practice.  Beckmann  thought  the  ancient  method 
did  not  vary  much  from  the  modern.  "  The  ore  was  first 
crushed  and  washed,  then  roasted,  and  finally  smelted  in  a 
furnace,  resulting  in  the  production  of  a  regulus,  consisting 
of  lead  and  silver."  This  product  was  called  "  stannum," 
and  is  the  same  known  to  the  German  smelter  of  to-day  as 
"werk"  or  "werkblei"  and  by  our  smelters  as  base  bullion, 
so  named  to  distinguish  it  from  gold  or  silver  bullion. 
This  "  stannum  was  treated  in  a  furnace  specially  con- 
structed for  this  operation,  and  provided  with  a  hearth  of 
lixiviated  ashes  to  separate  the  silver  from  the  lead  and 
other  metals."  This  particular  .process  Pliny  fails  to 

1  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiv.  chap,  xlvii.  2  Ibid. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  129 

mention,  probably  because  he  was  ignorant  of  the  details 
of  the  operation.  The  product  obtained  by  this  second 
process,  which  we  term  "  cupellation,"  was  silver  and  pro- 
toxide of  lead,  or  litharge  as  we  term  it,  but  called  by  Pliny 
"galena," — a  name  by  which  we  distinguish  one  of  the 
principal  ores  of  lead.1  If  this  last  substance,  litharge,  be 
heated,  and  the  oxygen  expelled,  metallic  lead  remains. 
This  rendering  of  the  account  given  by  Pliny  is  intelli- 
gible, and  quite  in  accordance  with  modern  methods,  by 
which  the  ore  is  first  pulverized,  washed,  and  roasted,  then 
smelted  in  a  blast-furnace,  producing  a  regulus  composed  of 
the  lead,  silver,  and  other  associated  metals.  This  regulus, 
or  base  bullion  as  we  term  it,  is  then  treated  in  a  reverber- 
atory  furnace,  for  the  purpose  of  eliminating  some  of  the 
associated  metals ;  next,  the  silver  is  separated  from  the 
now  partially  purified  product  by  cupellation,  or  by  some 
more  modern  method,  and  the  litharge  is  reduced  to  the 
metallic  state  by  treatment  in  a  blast-furnace. 

The  confusion  created  by  the  misapplication  of  terms  by 
Pliny,  due  to  his  ignorance  of  metallurgical  processes,  is 
most  perplexing.  He  calls  the  protoxide  of  lead,  which  we 
know  under  the  name  of  litharge,  "  galena."  He  also  says 
that  "  galena  is  the  vein  of  lead  found  near  the  veins 
of  silver  ore,"  and  again  says  that  "  molybdena  is  a  com- 
pound of  silver  and  lead,  which  is  also  known  by  the  name 
'  galena.'  "  2  Pliny  also  says  :  "  There  are  two  kinds  of 
lead,  — '  white  lead,'  and  <  black  lead ; '  the  white  is  the 
most  valuable.  It  was  called  by  the  Greeks  '  cassiteros,' 

1  John  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  Bohn's  edition  (London,  1881), 
vol.  ii.  p.  211. 

2  Pliny  undoubtedly  used  the  word  "  galena  "  to  signify  native  lead-sulphide, 
the  most  common  ore  of  lead,  and  the  term  is  now  used  only  in  connection  with 
that  substance,  while  the  name  molybdena,  meaning  '*  a  mass  of  lead,"  or 
molybdenite,  has  been  appropriated  to  a  lead-colored  mineral  formerly  considered 
to  be  a  species  of  lead  ore,  but  in  comparatively  recent  times  recognized  to  be  a 
sulphide  of  a  very  rare  metal,  which  has  received  the  name  "molybdenum." 

9 


130  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

and  there  was  a  fabulous  story  of  their  going  in  quest  of 
it  to  the  islands  of  the  Atlantic." l  Pliny  describes  the  ore 
of  this  white  lead  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  no  doubt 
that  tin  was  the  substance  referred  to.  As  above  stated, 
the  product  of  the  first  smelting  of  argentiferous  lead  ore 
is  a  regulus  consisting  of  lead  and  silver,  with  perhaps 
other  metals  associated  in  inconsiderable  quantities.  This 
substance  Pliny  terms  "  stannum,"  a  name  which  has  been 
used  for  many  centuries  to  designate  the  metal  tin,  and 
from  which  the  name  for  tin  in  the  French  and  some  other 
languages  has  been  derived.  Tin  was  one  of  the  first 
metals  known,  and  its  combination  with  copper,  form- 
ing bronze,  was  among  the  first  metallurgical  operations 
discovered. 

Herodotus,  Strabo,  and  other  ancient  authors,  refer  to 
the  Islands  of  the  Cassiterides  as  one  of  the  principal 
sources  of  the  supply  of  tin  to  the  ancient  world,2  and  the 
references  are  generally  considered  to  apply  to  the  Scilly 
Isles,  lying  off  the  coast  of  Cornwall ;  but  Pryce,  and 
other  authorities,  doubt  that  tin  in  any  considerable  quan- 
tities was  ever  produced  in  these  islands ;  they  speak  of 
the  almost  entire  absence  of  any  indications  of  mining  on 
the  islands  in  ancient  times,  and  refer  to  the  fact  that 
in  modern  times  the  ores  of  tin  have  not  been  found 
there.3  In  Devon  and  Cornwall,  on  the  contrary,  there 
is  evidence  of  extensive  works  in  early,  and  probably  pre- 
Roman,  times,  and  ever  since  the  period  of  Roman  occu- 
pation tin  has  been  produced  there  in  great  quantities. 
These  writers  contend,  therefore,  that  Devon  and  Cornwall 
must  be  the  Cassiterides  of  the  ancients,  and  that  the 
Phoenicians  supplied  the  world  for  centuries  with  British 
tin,  obtained  from  these  districts  in  their  expeditions  from 

1  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiv.  chap,  xlvii.  p.  54. 

2  Herodotus,  p.  175 ;  Strabo's  Geography,  book  iii.  chap.  ii. 
8  Pryce,  Mineralogia  Cornubiensis,  introduction,  p.  4. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  131 

the  colony  at  Gades,  in  Spain.  Sir  George  Lewis,  while 
he  endorses  the  theory  that  the  tin  sold  by  the  Phoenicians 
to  the  Greeks  was  principally  procured  from  Devon  and 
Cornwall,1  doubts  that  this  trade  was  conducted,  as  so 
many  writers  affirm,  by  sea,  through  the  Straits  of  Gibral- 
tar, and  accepts  the  account  given  by  Diodorus  Siculus  that 
tin  was  ferried  across  the  channel  in  the  coracles,  or  hide- 
boats,  of  the  ancient  Britons,  and  thence  transported  on 
the  backs  of  horses  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rhone,  whence 
the  Phoenician  ships  could  distribute  it  to  the  nations 
bordering  upon  the  Mediterranean.2  The  Phoenicians  were 
undoubtedly  masters  of  the  tin  trade  for  centuries;  but 
as  India,  in  remote  ages,  probably  supplied  the  ancient 
Egyptians  with  tin,3  and  as  the  Phoenicians  communicated 
with  India  by  caravan  across  Arabia,  and  by  other  routes, 
supplies  may  have  been  brought  from  Asia,  or  the  mines  of 
Spain  may  have  furnished  enough  for  the  demand  at  that 
time.  Pliny,  Strabo,  and  other  ancient  writers,  refer  to  the 
occurrence  of  tin  in  Lusitania  and  Galicia,4  and  Herodotus 
says  he  is  ignorant  of  the  location  of  the  Cassiterides, 
"from  whence  we  are  said  to  get  our  tin,"5  while  Pliny 
refers  to  the  statement  that  tin  was  procured  from  islands 
in  the  Atlantic  as  a  fabulous  story.  Professor  Rhys, 
of  the  University  of  Oxford,  says,  "  There  is  not  a 
scrap  of  evidence,  linguistic  or  other,  of  the  presence  of 
the  Phoenicians  in  Britain  at  any  time." 6  And  Sir  John 
Lubbock  remarks  upon  the  entire  absence  of  traces  of 
ancient  commerce  in  Cornwall,  and  laments  that  so  few 

1  Sir  George  C.  Lewis,  Historical  Survey  of  the  Astronomy  of  the  Ancients 
(London,  1862),  p.  451. 

2  Diodorus  Siculus,  book  v.  chap.  ii. 

3  Wilkinson  states  —  Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  ii.  p.  134  —  that  bronze  vessels, 
dating  to  more  than  two  thousand  years  before  our  era,  have  been  found  in  the 
tombs  of  ancient  Egypt. 

4  Strabo,  book  iii.  chap.  ii.     See  also  Pliny,  book  xxxiv.  chap,  xlvii. 
6  Herodotus,  p.  175. 

6  J.  Khys,  M.A.,  Celtic  Britain  (London,  1881),  p.  47, 


132  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

Phoenician  remains  are  preserved  in  the  museums  of 
Great  Britain.1 

Pliny's  name  for  tin  was  "  plumbum  album/'  or  "  plum- 
bum candidum," — white  lead.  He  says:  "  The  Greeks 
called  it  '  cassiteros,'  and  hence  the  name  of  the  Islands 
Cassiterides,  from  whence  it  was  said  to  have  been  pro- 
cured." In  the  Bible  the  Hebrew  word  "  bedil "  was 
rendered  by  the  Greek  translators  "  cassiteros,"  and  this 
in  turn  is  translated  into  English  "  tin,"  though  in  some 
places  the  word  "  lead"  would  be  more  appropriate.  Pliny 
considered  that  tin  was  a  variety  of  lead,  and  not  a  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  metal,  and  confounded  it  with  the  Roman 
"  stannum,"  the  product  of  the  first  smelting  of  argen- 
tiferous lead  ores.  This  is  not  surprising,  as  this  sub- 
stance, owing  to  the  presence  of  other  metals,  even  in 
small  quantities,  is  less  easily  affected  by  atmospheric  influ- 
ences than  pure  lead,  retains  its  lustre  longer,  and  appears 
much  like  the  metal  tin.  It  is  clear  therefore  that  little 
dependence  can  be  placed  upon  these  words,  when  they 
occur  in  ancient  writings,  except  that  they  indicate  some 
metal  differing  from  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron,  and  even 
ordinary  lead. 

Beckmann  and  other  authorities  have  treated  this  sub- 
ject at  considerable  length,  and  argue  that,  in  Pliny's  time, 
tin  was  not  so  abundant  as  is  implied  in  the  statements  of 
ancient  writers.  Beckmann  thought  that  tin  was  sparingly 
supplied  from  Spain  and  Gaul,  but  that  it  must  have  been 
scarce  and  exceedingly  dear,  and  consequently  could  not 
have  been  used  for  such  common  purposes  as  is  indicated 
in  the  works  of  ancient  authors.  He  contends  that  the 
translators  of  the  Books  of  the  Prophets  have  used  the 
word  "  cassiteros,"  which  signified  tin,  when  "  stannum," 
a  mixture  of  lead  and  silver,  was  the  proper  translation. 
In  this  opinion  he  is  supported  by  scholars  profoundly 

1  Sir  John  Lubbock,  Prehistoric  Times,  p.  74. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  133 

versed  in  Oriental  history  and  philology,  and  his  views  are 
adopted  by  many  writers  of  modern  times.1  If  Beckmann 
is  correct  the  "  plummet "  referred  to  in  Zechariah  was  of 
lead,  as  we  should  suppose  it  to  be,  and  not  of  tin,  as  it 
would  be  termed  if  the  word  "bedil"  had  been  translated 
as  it  is  in  other  parts  of  the  Bible.2 

On  account  of  the  close  resemblance  which  exists  be- 
tween the  substance  called  "stannum"  by  the  Romans  and 
the  metal  tin,  and  the  confusion  which  existed  for  many 
centuries  regarding  their  names,  it  is  thought  that  in  early 
days  these  metals  were  used  indifferently  for  various 
purposes.3  It  is  probable,  as  Moore  points  out,  that  the 
Greeks  included  under  the  name  "  cassiteros,"  alloys  of  tin 
with  lead,  and  perhaps  with  other  metals,  —  as  the  French 
use  to-day  the  word  "  etain,"  to  signify  tin,  and  also  to 
designate  pewter,  which  is  an  alloy  of  tin  with  lead ; 4 
and  Phillips  thought  the  Roman  stannum  was  "an  alloy 
of  tin  with  lead  or  with  antimony,  of  lead  with  silver,  or 
variable  mixtures  of  metals  often  associated  in  nature." 5 

Stannum  was  largely  used  in  ancient  times  in  the 
manufacture  of  articles  for  domestic  and  for  other  pur- 
poses, perhaps  before  the  art  of  separating  silver  from  lead 
was  discovered ;  and  after  that  period  such  as  contained 
what  was  considered  too  small  a  percentage  of  silver  to  be 

1  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  208. 

2  Zechariah  iv.  10.      If  we  apply  Beckmann's  argument  to  the  references 
to  tin  in  Homer  it  would  show  that   the  greaves  of  Achilles  and  the  bands 
and  bosses   on  his  shield  were  not  of  tin,  forged  by  celestial  workmen,  as 
the  translators  of  Homer  have  it,  but  were  of  the  substance  called  stannum  by 
Pliny,  and  which  is  known  in  our  smelting- works  as  base  bullion.     This  propo- 
sition seems  absurd  enough  ;  but  if  the  ornamentation  of  the  shield  of  Achilles 
is  assumed  to  have  been  of  tin  it  supports  Beckmann's  argument  respecting 
the  scarcity  and  consequent  dearness  of  the  metal,  as  the  poet  would  doubtless 
describe  the  armor  forged  by  the  gods  as  being  of  the  rarest  and  most  costly 
materials. 

8  Kopp,  Geschichte  der  Chemie. 

4  N.  F.  Moore,  Ancient  Mineralogy. 

6  John  Phillips,  Thoughts  on  Ancient  Metallurgy. 


134  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

profitably  recovered  continued  to  be  so  employed.  Beck- 
mann  believes  that  many,  perhaps  the  greater  number  of 
articles  for  domestic  use  said  to  have  been  made  of  bronze, 
and  which  some  writers  contend  were  made  of  tin,  were 
made  of  Roman  stannum,  which,  if  rich  in  other  metals, 
and  thus  more  difficult  of  fusion,  was  more  suitable  for 
such  purposes  than  copper.  He  quotes  Suetonius  as  au- 
thority for  the  statement  that  the  Emperor  Vitellius  took 
from  the  temples  all  the  gold  and  silver,  and  substituted 
aurichalcum  and  stannum.1 

A  large  trade  certainly  existed  in  this  substance  in  ancient 
times,  conducted  probably  by  the  Phoenicians,  who,  if  not 
smelters  of  lead,  were  undoubtedly  chiefly  instrumental  in 
the  distribution  of  metals  among  the  ancient  nations.  The 
prophet  Ezekiel,  referring  to  them,  says,  "  With  silver,  iron, 
tin,  and  lead  they  traded  in  thy  fairs."  2 

Isidore,  of  Seville,  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  century  (he 
died  A.  D.  636),  says :  "  There  are  two  kinds  of  lead,  the 
black  and  the  white,  the  latter  of  which  is  the  best,  and  is 
found  on  islands  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  also  in  Lusitania 
and  Galicia."  He  describes  what  we  may  suppose  to  be 
an  ore  of  tin,  which  he  says  contains  gold.  He  gives 
directions  for  separating  the  gold  and  securing  the  white- 
]ead  —  tin  —  by  smelting.  Black-lead,  he  informs  us,  is 
abundant  about  Cantabriam,  and  its  origin  is  two-fold :  one 
vein  produces  lead  mixed  with  silver,  and  upon  being  sub- 
jected to  heat  the  first  product  is  stannum ;  the  second 
is  silver;  and  that  which  remains,  added  to  the  ore  and 
reheated,  becomes  black-lead.3 

This  quotation  is  from  an  encyclopedic  work  which  is  an 
epitome  of  the  scientific  knowledge  of  the  seventh  century. 
Tin,  therefore,  was  still  termed  plumbum  candidum,  or 

1  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  213. 

2  Ezekiel  xxvii.  12. 

8  Divi  Isidori  Hispal.  Episcopi,  etc. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  135 

plumbum  album,  —  white  lead,  —  and  the  first  product  of 
smelting  argentiferous  lead  ores  was  called  stannum,  our 
technical  name  for  tin. 

Geber,  in  the  eighth  century,  recognized  the  metal  tin, 
and  mentioned  several  of  its  peculiarities,  especially  its  dis- 
tinctive characteristic,  the  peculiar  crackling  noise  made 
when  it  is  bent  or  broken,  —  its  "  cry,"  as  it  is  called, 
—  and  the  Greek  word  cassiteros  began  to  be  translated 
stannum,  the  technical  name  since  that  time  signifying 
tin. 

Articles  for  domestic  and  other  uses  continued  to  be 
made  of  stannum,  or  to  use  its  modern  German  name, 
"werkblei,"  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  century,  and  Beck- 
mann  mentions  old  vessels  for  use  in  church  service  which 
he  considered  to  be  of  the  same  substance.1  Agricola  de- 
scribes stannum  in  several  places  in  his  work,  "  De  Re 
Metallica,"  as  a  compound  of  black  lead  and  silver;  and 
in  his  second  index,  in  which  he  gives  the  equivalent  Ger- 
man expression  for  the  Latin  names  of  the  metals,  metal- 
lurgical processes,  etc.,  described  in  his  work,  he  translates 
stannum  by  the  old  German  term  "  werkplei,"  a  substance 
which  is  the  product  of  the  first  smelting  of  argentiferous 
lead  ores.2 

Pliny  says,  "  When  copper  vessels  are  coated  with  stan- 
num they  produce  a  less  disagreeable  flavor,  and  the  for- 
mation of  verdigris  is  prevented."  True  tin  is  probably 
intended  here,  as  he  continues,  "  At  the  present  day  a 
counterfeit  stannum  is  made  by  adding  one  third  of  white 
copper  to  two  thirds  of  white  lead ;  it  is  also  counterfeited 
in  another  way,  by  mixing  equal  parts  of  white  and  black 
lead,  this  last  being  what  is  called  argentarium."  "There 
is  also,"  he  says,  "  a  composition  called  '  tertiarum/  used 
for  soldering  pipes,  a  mixture  of  two  parts  of  black  lead 

1  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  214. 

2  Agricola,  De  Re  Metallica,  Index  Edition,  1556. 


136  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

and  one  of  white." l     Both  of  these  alloys  were  used  in 
the  composition  of  statuary  bronze. 

Beckmann  explains  these  obscure  statements  by  saying 
that  Pliny  thought  that  tinning  should  be  done  with  pure 
tin,  but  that  unprincipled  men  sometimes  used  a  mixture 
of  tin  with  lead.2  Pliny,  however,  adds  to  the  confusion  by 
saying  that  "  white  lead,  meaning  tin,  without  being  mixed 
with  another  metal  is  of  no  use  for  anything," 3  which  per- 
haps proves  that  all  tin  was  mixed  with  lead  in  some 
degree ;  and  Beckmann  finally  concludes  that  tinning  with 
pure  tin  was  of  rare  occurrence.4 

The  method  adopted  by  the  ancient  metallurgist,  in  the 
somewhat  complex  art  of  separating  the  silver  contained  in 
the  stannum  from  the  lead,  is  the  same  as  that  known,  and 
in  use  to-day,  under  the  term  "  cupellation."  This  process 
is  based  upon  the  principle  that  when  silver  is  heated  to  a 
temperature  far  beyond  its  melting-point  in  the  presence 
of  atmospheric  air  it  remains  unaltered ;  and  this  is  true 
whether  the  silver  alone  is  present,  or  whether  it  is  mixed 
with  other  metals.  Lead,  on  the  contrary,  when  subjected  to 
a  high  temperature  under  the  same  conditions,  very  readily 
oxidizes,  and  the  liquid  metal  changes  to  a  yellowish-brown 
flaky  powder,  which  we  know  under  its  chemical  name  of 
lead  oxide,  or  its  common  name  litharge. 

If  a  mixture  of  lead  and  silver  is  subjected  to  a  high 

1  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiv.  chap,  xlviii. 

2  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  221. 
8  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiv.  chap.  xlviiL 

4  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  221.  The  ancients  were  well 
acquainted  with  the  art  of  tinning.  Pliny  says  :  "  The  method  of  coating  articles 
of  copper  with  white-lead  —  tin  —  so  as  to  be  scarcely  distinguished  from  silver 
was  discovered  in  the  Gallic  provinces  by  the  Bituriges."  1  The  deleterious 
effect  of  lead  upon  the  human  system  was  also  well  known.  Pliny  refers  to  it, 
and  Galen  recommends  keeping  medicines  in  glass  in  preference  to  tinned 
vessels,  as  all  tin  was  probably  adulterated  with  lead. 

1  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiv.  chap,  xlviii. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  137 

temperature,  with  access  of  air,  in  vessels  of  refractory 
material,  the  lead  eagerly  takes  up  oxygen,  and  assumes 
the  form  of  a  flaky  brown  powder,  which  may  be  re- 
moved, while  the  silver  is  found  unchanged  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  vessel.  This  process  is  probably  referred  to 
in  the  following  passage  from  Jeremiah :  "  The  bellows 
are  burned,  the  lead  is  consumed  of  the  fire,  the  founder 
melteth  in  vain,  for  the  wicked  are  not  plucked  away ; 
reprobate  silver  shall  men  call  them,  for  the  Lord  hath  re- 
jected them ; "  *  and  again,  "  The  house  of  Israel  is  be- 
come dross  ;  all  they  are  brass,  and  tin,  and  iron,  and  lead, 
in  the  midst  of  the  furnace ;  they  are  even  the  dross 
of  silver ; " 2  and,  "  I  will  turn  my  hand  upon  thee  and 
purely  purge  away  thy  dross,  and  take  away  all  thy 
tin."  3 

According  to  Leger,  though  this  metallurgical  process 
was  commonly  known  in  the  East,  and  practised  before  the 
time  of  Cyrus  (600  B.C.),  cupellation  was  not  practised  in 
the  West  until  much  later.4  Agatharchides  describes  the 
process  of  purifying  gold  by  melting  it  in  earthen  pots, 
together  with  tin  and  lead,  to  which  salt  and  barley-bran 
was  added ;  the  fire,  he  says,  was  kept  up  during  five  suc- 
cessive days.6  Strabo  refers  to  cupellation  when  he  says 
that  the  silver  ore  of  the  mines  was  washed  five  times,  and 
the  dregs  were  then  melted,  and  the  lead  being  poured  off 
the  silver  was  obtained  pure.  He  describes  the  silver  fur- 
naces as  being  constructed  so  that  "  the  pestilential  vapors 
of  the  lead  were  raised  and  carried  off." 6  The  use  of  lead 
in  refining  gold  is  mentioned  by  Theognis,  who  lived  in  the 
sixth  century  B.  c.7 

1  Jeremiah  vi.  29,  30.  2  Ezekiel  xxii.  18. 

3  Isaiah  i.  22-25. 

4  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  etc.,  p.  716. 
6  Agatharchides,  De  Rubro  Man. 

6  Strabo's  Geography,  book  iii.  chap.  ii. 

7  Moore,  Ancient  Mineralogy,  p.  44. 


138  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

Evidences  of  the  practice  of  this  method  of  refining 
argentiferous  lead  are  abundant  in  the  ancient  mining  dis- 
tricts in  the  Old  World.  Near  Cartagena,  in  Spain,  pigs 
of  lead  of  undoubted  Roman  smelting  have  been  found, 
with  cakes  of  silver  lying  near  them.  In  the  province  of 
Barcelona  great  heaps  of  litharge  have  been  discovered 
near  the  site  of  an  ancient  furnace.  In  many  ancient 
mining-camps  in  France  evidences  are  abundant  of  this 
method  of  separating  silver  from  argentiferous  lead.  Re- 
mains of  ancient  cupelling  furnaces  have  been  discovered 
near  Almeria,  in  Spain ;  quantities  of  litharge  have  been 
found  mixed  with  the  scoriae  near  old  foundries  in  Greece.1 
Geber  understood  the  process  of  cupellation  ;  and  Theophi- 
lus,  who  wrote  in  the  eleventh  century,  describes  minutely 
the  method  of  preparing  the  crucible,  or  cupel,  for  the 
purification  of  silver,  and  with  careful  detail  gives  direc- 
tions for  conducting  the  process.2  Agricola  describes  a 
smelting-house  with  the  necessary  apparatus  for  separating 
silver  from  lead  by  cupellation,  and  illustrates  his  descrip- 
tion with  wood-cuts,  in  which  the  smallest  details  are 
treated  in  the  most  painstaking  manner.  The  cupelling 
furnaces  are  much  like  those  in  use  to-day  in  Germany. 
The  blast  was  furnished  by  bellows  operated  by  water- 
wheels  ;  the  iron  cover,  or  hood,  was  removed  or  put  into 
position  by  means  of  a  crane  provided  with  a  system  of 
gearing,  the  power  being  supplied  by  men  who  worked 
a  crank-shaft.3 

The  native  Peruvians  seem  to  have  independently  dis- 
covered this  metallurgical  process ;  they  made  moulds  of 
clay  called  "guayras,"  in  the  shape  of  a  flower-pot,  with 
many  holes  in  them ;  they  filled  these  with  ore  mixed  with 

1  See  Daubre"e,   L'Exploitation  des  Mines,   etc. ;  also  Leger,  Les  Travaux 
Publics,  etc.,  pp.  698,  715. 

2  Diversarum  Artium  Schedula,  Theophilus,  monk,  translated  by  Hendrie 
(London,  1847),  p.  227. 

8  Agricola,  De  Re  Metallica,  pp.  324,  382. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  139 

charcoal,  and  taking  them  to  the  mountains,  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  natural  air-currents,  fired  them;  the  pro- 
duct of  this  fusion  was  afterwards  further  refined  at  their 
houses,  the  blast  being  secured  by  the  use  of  small  hand- 
bellows.1  Garcilaso  de  la  Vega  describes  the  Peruvian 
method  of  recovering  silver  from  its  ores  as  follows :  "  The 
silver  for  the  most  part  is  extracted  frpm  the  '  Hatun 
Potossi,'  in  the  melting  of  which  they  at  first  found  great 
difficulty,  for  not  being  able  to  make  it  run,  it  burnt  away 
or  evaporated  in  smoke,  of  which  the  Indians  could  not 
penetrate  the  cause,  nor  discover  a  remedy.  But  as  neces- 
sity and  covetousness  make  men  ingenious  and  contriv- 
ing, so  particularly  the  Indians  were  infinitely  industrious 
to  find  out  some  way  to  melt  their  gold  and  silver.  At 
length,  after  many  experiments,  they  happened  to  try  the 
melting  of  a  baser  sort  of  metal,  which  the  '  lesser  Po- 
tossi '  produced,  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  lead  mixed 
with  silver,  the  which  yielding  more  easily  melted  and  run, 
and  this  being  put  in  the  melting-pots,  together  with  the 
fine  silver  and  gold,  would  immediately  cause  them  to  melt 
and  dissolve  ;  for  which  reason  the  Indians  gave  it  the 
name  of  '  curuchee,'  which  signifies  anything  that  dis- 
solves." This  was  the  first  smelting,  and  was  conducted 
on  the  mountain ;  the  product  of  this  operation  was  then 
taken  to  their  houses,  where  it  was  subjected  to  a  second 
smelting,  when,  by  the  use  of  a  blow-pipe,  the  lead  was 
completely  oxidized,  or  "burnt  out,"  and  the  silver  re- 
covered.2 

The  natives  of  India  were  acquainted  with  this  process 
three  hundred  years  ago.  Digging  a  hole  in  the  ground 
they  worked  up  a  composition  of  moistened  ashes,  with 
which  they  plastered  the  cavity,  making  a  sort  of  dish,  or 

1  The  Travels  of  Pedro  de  Cieza  de  Leon,  translated  by  C.  R.  Markham 
(London,  1864),  p.  389. 

2  De  La  Vega,  Royal  Commentaries  of  Peru,  p.  346. 


140  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

cupel ;  they  put  the  ore  and  lead  into  this  vessel  or  furnace, 
fired  it,  and  repeating  the  operation  they  finally  recovered 
the  silver.1 

It  is  not  the  purpose  or  the  scope  of  this  work  to  discuss, 
or  even  to  describe  in  detail,  modern  processes  for  the  re- 
covery of  lead  from  its  ores,  and  for  the  final  purification 
of  the  metal.  The  subject  is  treated  in  the  most  complete 
and  exhaustive  manner  by  Percy,  and  other  authors  of 
recognized  authority,  and  to  these  the  reader  is  referred  for 
technical  details. 

Modern  smelting-processes  are  many  and  varied,  the  dif- 
ferences arising  principally  from  the  character  of  the  fuel, 
or  of  the  ore,  the  means  of  transportation,  or  other  local- 
causes,  which  determine  the  method  employed.  The  purer 
sulphide  ores  are  generally  first  crushed,  then  washed  to  re- 
move the  earthy  impurities,  dried,  and  subjected  to  the 
operation  of  smelting,  which  is  generally  conducted  in 
reverberatory  furnaces.  The  process  may  be  described  as 
consisting  of  two  operations :  first,  in  roasting  the  galena 
with  access  of  air,  which  converts  the  ore  into  a  mixture 
composed  of  the  oxide  and  the  sulphate,  with  some  unde- 
composed  sulphide ;  second,  by  increasing  the  temperature 
these  products  are  made  to  react  upon  each  other  and 
metallic  lead  is  produced,  the  oxygen  and  sulphur  combin- 
ing and  escaping  as  sulphurous  acid-gas.  In  some  districts 
the  purer  galenas  are  treated  in  the  ore-hearth,  which  is  a 
small  rectangular  blast-furnace.  In  this  furnace  a  portion 
of  the  ore  is  oxidized  by  the  heated  blast,  and  a  chemical 
reaction  occurs  between  the  oxidized  products  of  the  ore 
affected  and  portions  of  the  ore  lying  underneath,  by  which 
metallic  lead  is  released. 

In  smelting  lead  advantage  is  sometimes  taken  of  the 
fact  that  sulphur  has  a  greater  affinity  for  iron  than  for 
lead,  and  if  iron  is  brought  into  contact  with  molten  sul- 

1  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead,  p.  211. 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  141 

phide  of  lead  it  will  —  as  soon  as  it  has  acquired  the  proper 
temperature  —  combine  with  the  sulphur,  while  metallic 
lead  is  set  free.  Pure  iron  is  sometimes  used  for  this  pur- 
pose, but  cinders  and  other  secondary  products  may  also 
be  employed. 

The  ores  in  which  lead  is  found  associated  with  notable 
amounts  of  silver,  and  with  other  metals,  require  a  more 
elaborate  treatment,  which  varies  somewhat  to  meet  local 
conditions,  but  usually  the  scheme  is  substantially  as  fol- 
lows :  the  ore,  after  being  crushed,  is  treated  to  expel  the 
sulphur,  arsenic,  antimony,  etc.,  and  to  convert  the  metals 
contained  in  it  into  oxides ;  this  operation  is  usually  con- 
ducted in  a  species  of  reverberatory  furnace.  The  roasted 
ore  is  now  transferred  to  a  blast-furnace  to  reduce  the  lead 
and  silver  to  a  metallic  state ;  the  products  of  this  smelting 
are  the  argentiferous  lead,  called  in  this  country  "base 
bullion,"  speiss,  matte,  slag,  and  other  secondary  products, 
some  of  which  are  utilized  by  subjecting  them  to  further 
treatment. 

The  base  bullion,  which  contains  besides  the  lead  and 
silver  some  of  the  other  metals  which  were  associated  with 
them  in  the  ore,  may  be  treated  for  the  separation  of  its 
constituent  metals  in  one  of  three  ways :  by  cupellation, 
the  ancient  process  already  referred  to ;  by  crystallization, 
or  Pattinson's  process,  so  named  in  honor  of  its  inventor, 
or  by  what  is  known  as  the  zinc  process. 

The  process  of  cupellation  is  conducted  in  a  furnace 
specially  constructed  for  the  purpose,  and  provided  with 
a  floor  or  hearth  carefully  prepared  of  bone  ashes.  The 
argentiferous  lead  is  introduced  into  the  furnace,  and 
is  subjected  to  a  high  temperature  by  means  of  a  blast; 
the  lead  rapidly  oxidizes,  forming  litharge,  which  may  be 
removed,  carrying  with  it  the  oxides  of  several  other 
metals  which  may  be  associated  with  it  in  the  base  bullion; 
fresh  portions  of  argentiferous  lead,  or  base  bullion,  are 


142  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

added  from  time  to  time  until  the  contents  of  the  furnace 
have  been  highly  concentrated,  when  the  final  operation 
is  conducted  in  another  furnace  with  a  freshly  prepared 
hearth.  Some  of  the  litharge  is  absorbed  in  the  hearth, 
but  the  loss  of  lead  is  rarely  more  than  five  per  cent.  The 
method  here  described  is  known  as  the  English  process. 
The  German  method  differs  slightly  in  the  manner  of 
treatment  and  in  the  construction  of  the  apparatus ;  the 
principle,  however,  is  the  same. 

The  Pattinson  process  is  based  upon  the  following  phe- 
nomenon :  if  a  mixture  of  silver  and  lead  heated  above  the 
melting-point  is  allowed  to  cool  nearly  to  its  fusing-point, 
while  being  stirred,  crystals  will  form,  and  include  much 
less  silver  than  that  portion  of  the  lead  which  remains 
liquid ;  if  this  operation  is  repeated  nearly  complete  separ- 
ation of  the  silver  will  result.  In  practice  a  large  number 
of  kettles  are  arranged  in  rows,  and  into  the  first  the 
argentiferous  lead  is  placed,  fire  is  raised,  and  after  the 
mass  is  thoroughly  melted  the  fires  are  drawn,  and  while 
cooling  the  metal  is  constantly  stirred ;  crystals  soon  form, 
and  are  removed  with  a  ladle  pierced  with  holes,  which 
allow  the  liquid  to  fall  back  into  the  kettle,  while  the  crys- 
tals, which  are  of  nearly  pure  lead,  are  thrown  into  a 
second  kettle.  This  process  is  repeated  by  reheating  and 
passing  the  crystals  on  from  one  kettle  to  another,  until 
they  consist  entirely  of  pure  lead,  and  the  liquid  lead 
carries  a  very  large  percentage  of  silver,  which  is  then 
removed  to  the  cupelling-furnace  and  the  silver  entirely 
separated  by  the  old  method. 

A  modification  of  this  process  has  been  adopted  by  many 
refiners  in  France  and  in  England,  by  which  the  agitation 
of  the  melted  lead  is  produced  by  introducing  steam  at 
a  pressure  of  three  atmospheres,  instead  of  mechanical 
or  machine  stirring ;  and  only  two  kettles  are  used  in- 
stead of  the  large  number  required  by  the  original  pro- 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  143 

cess.  The  apparatus  employed  consists  of  two  kettles 
placed  at  different  levels.  The  lead  to  be  treated  is  melted 
in  the  upper  kettle,  and  having  been  skimmed  is  tapped  into 
the  lower  one  and  steam  is  turned  on.  When  crystallization 
has  reached  the  desired  point  the  rich  lead  is  run  off  into 
circular  moulds  sunk  in  the  ground,  and  the  crystals  are 
left  in  the  kettle  to  mix  with  the  next  charge.  The  rich 
lead,  after  cooling,  is  moved  in  blocks  weighing  two  tons  or 
more  by  means  of  a  crane,  and  is  piled  at  a  convenient 
distance  from  the  furnaces,  blocks  of  the  same  degree  of 
richness  being  piled  together.  When  one  pile  is  worked 
off  the  next  series  are  successively  crystallized.  When  the 
separation  is  complete  the  pure  lead  is  run  into  moulds, 
and  the  concentrated  rich  lead  treated  for  the  purification 
of  the  silver.  This  process  is  found  to  remove  copper, 
nickel,  and  other  impurities  present  in  small  quantities 
much  more  effectively  than  the  old  hand  process. 

The  lead  produced  by  Pattinson's  process  is  remarkably 
pure,  as  the  associated  metals  are  practically  completely 
eliminated  by  the  repeated  heating  and  the  removal  of  the 
scum  formed  by  the  oxidized  products.  Before  the  inven- 
tion of  this  method  (patented  in  1833)  all  the  silver  re- 
covered from  argentiferous  lead  was  obtained  by  the  old 
method  of  cupellation.  The  new  method  not  only  reduced 
the  cost  of  separating  the  silver,  but  it  enabled  the  metal- 
lurgist to  treat  lead  containing  only  three  ounces  of  silver 
to  the  ton,  while  previous  to  that  time  most  of  the  com- 
mercial lead  contained  as  much  as  fifteen  ounces  to  the 
ton.1 

The  extraordinary  amount  of  silver  found  in  lead  which 
had  been  stripped  from  the  roofs  of  ancient  buildings  has 
given  rise  to  the  statement  that  silver  was  purposely  added 
to  the  lead,  or  that  by  some  inscrutable  process  silver  had 
been  spontaneously  produced.  The  fact  is,  however,  that 

1  Lamborn,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead  and  Silver,  p.  146. 


144  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

the  ancients  did  not  think  it  worth  the  cost  to  desilverize 
lead  which  carried  an  amount  of  silver  modern  smelters 
would  have  esteemed  highly  profitable.  It  is  possible  also 
that  by  the  action  of  atmospheric  influences  portions  of  the 
grosser  metal  had  become  oxidized,  or  carbonized,  and 
being  exposed  to  the  wind  and  rain  had  disappeared,  the 
silver  and  lead  remaining  forming  a  rich  alloy. 

The  process  of  refining  most  commonly  adopted  in  this 
country  is  that  known  as  the  "  zinc  process."  When  a 
mixture  of  lead  and  zinc,  melted  at  a  high  temperature,  is 
allowed  to  cool,  a  nearly  complete  separation  of  the  metals 
takes  place,  the  zinc,  on  account  of  its  higher  melting- 
point  and  lower  specific  gravity,  solidifies  first  and  forms  a 
crust,  which  floats  upon  the  surface  of  the  liquid  lead  so 
that  it  may  be  removed  by  skimming.  In  argentiferous 
lead  the  silver  becomes  concentrated  in  the  crust  of  zinc, 
and  may  be  removed  with  it. 

The  usual  practice  is  to  treat  the  base  bullion  in  a  re- 
verberatory  furnace  for  the  oxidation  and  the  removal  by 
skimming  of  some  of  the  impurities,  as  copper,  antimony, 
arsenic,  etc. ;  it  is  then  run  into  kettles  and  heated,  a  small 
quantity  of  zinc  is  added,  the  heat  increased,  and  the 
molten  mass  continually  stirred  to  thoroughly  incorporate 
the  zinc.  This  stirring  was  originally  performed  by  hand, 
but  a  jet  of  steam  issuing  from  a  pipe  inserted  into  the 
molten  mass  is  found  to  answer  the  purpose  better,  and  is 
now  generally  adopted.  The  fires  are  now  banked,  and  the 
mass  is  allowed  to  cool,  the  crust  is  removed  with  a  ladle, 
the  lead  is  reheated,  more  zinc  is  added,  and  it  is  again 
cooled  and  skimmed.  This  operation  is  repeated  the  third 
time,  when  the  separation  of  the  silver  is  usually  found  to 
be  complete.  The  desilverized  lead  has  to  be  again  treated 
to  remove  traces  of  zinc  —  commonly  by  passing  super- 
heated steam  into  the  molten  mass,  oxidizing  the  zinc, 
which  is  then  removed  from  the  surface  by  skimming, 


SMELTING  AND  REFINING.  145 

when  the  liquid  is  ready  to  be  cast  into  moulds,  forming 
commercial  pig-lead.  The  crusts,  which  contain  the  zinc, 
silver,  gold,  copper,  and  other  metals,  are  treated  for  the 
recovery  of  the  silver  and  gold,  and  the  silver  is  finally 
separated  by  the  cupellation  of  the  concentrated  bullion.1 

1  See  Percy,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead  ;  Lamborn,  The  Metallurgy  of  Lead 
and  Silver;  and  Hahn  in  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States,  Washington, 
1 883,  —  from  whose  works  the  descriptions  of  modern  processes  have  been  largely 
derived. 


10 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE   USES   OF   LEAD    IN  ANCIENT   TIMES. 

LEAD  is  so  rarely  mentioned  in  the  works  of  ancient 
writers  that  we  might  infer  it  was  not  in  general 
use ;  but  trade  and  commerce  were  probably  much  more 
extensive  in  ancient  times,  and  the  art  of  working  metals 
was  better  understood  than  the  direct  testimony  of  ancient 
history  indicates ;  and  so  common  a  metal  as  lead  was 
doubtless  an  important  article  of  exchange  and  barter,  and 
was  in  common  use  among  the  civilized  nations  of  the 
East. 

The  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  used  lead  in  large 
quantities,  and  for  many  purposes ;  -but  the  Egyptians  and 
Assyrians,  if  we  may  rely  upon  the  results  of  the  ex- 
plorations of  archaeologists  and  travellers  in  the  ruins 
of  those  ancient  empires,  found  but  little  use  for  this 
metal.  The  Egyptians  glazed  their  pottery  with  lead, 
and  Wilkinson  mentions  its  use  in  soldering  coarse  ware, 
and  assigns  the  specimen  observed  by  him  to  a  Pharaonic 
age.1  It  is  also  mentioned  as  being  among  the  spoils 
brought  home  by  the  armies  of  Thotmes  III.  from  their 
expeditions  to  Mesopotamia  and  to  the  country  of  the 
Phoenicians.  Leaden  objects  of  ancient  Egyptian  origin 
are  rare  in  the  museums  of  Europe,  and  it  is  possible  that 
this  metal  was  not  in  common  use  in  that  country.  At 

1  Wilkinson,  The  Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  ii.  p.  163. 


THE  USES  OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES. 

the  Berlin  Museum  a  few  leaden  objects  from  the  ruins  of 
ancient  Egypt  are  preserved,  and  have  been  described  by 
Hoijmann.  Among  them  are  figures  representing  a  winged 
woman,  a  grasshopper,  etc.,  and  a  shield  about  five  inches 
long  and  three  and  a  quarter  inches  wide,  which  has 
inscribed  upon  its  face  several  symbolic  representations. 
These  objects  were  found  upon  the  breasts  of  mummies. 
A  leaden  figure  representing  a  cat  in  a  sitting  posture  is 
thought  to  have  been  used  as  an  amulet.  In  the  Museum 
at  Turin  there  are  preserved  two  figures  cut  out  of  thin 
plates  of  lead  and  made  to  represent  birds.  One  of  these 
figures  is  covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  tin.  In  the  temple 
of  Rameses  III.,  at  Medinet-Abu,  plates  or  bricks  of  lead 
have  been  found  covered  with  inscriptions  in  which  a  word 
occurs  which  may  be  translated  lead.1 

Lead  is  not  mentioned  in  the  oldest  of  the  books  of 
India,  but  in  the  Yajur  Veda  it  is  referred  to  as  being 
in  use  as  a  weaver's  weight.  It  was  also  used  to  purify 
silver,  as  a  charm,  and,  curiously  enough,  in  medicine  as 
a  remedy  for  indigestion.  The  women  used  one  of  its 
products,  red  lead,  as  a  cosmetic. 

The  Assyrians  acquired  a  high  degree  of  perfection  in 
the  art  of  working  metals,  and  the  graceful  shapes  of  their 
ornaments  and  utensils  indicate  the  attainment  of  a  re- 
fined taste.  It  is  probable  that  this  nation  found  many 
uses  for  lead. 

The  Babylonians  built  great  dams  and  embankments  to 
confine  the  Euphrates  within  its  bounds.  In  the  interior 
of  the  city  these  walls  were  built  of  massive  stones,  form- 
ing great  quays.2  Queen  Nitocris  turned  the  river  as  it 
flowed  through  the  city,  and  carried  over  it  a  bridge,  the 
huge  stones  of  which  as  well  as  those  forming  the  embank- 

1  K.  B.  Hoffmann,  Das  Blei,  bei  den  Volkern  des  Alterthums  (Berlin, 
1885),  p.  6. 

2  Heeren,  Historical  Researches,  vol.  ii.  p.  135. 


148  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

ments  were  bound  together  with  clamps  of  iron,  secured 
in  the  stone  by  running  in  molten  lead.  The  hanging- 
gardens  of  Babylon  are  described  as  being  four  hundred 
feet  square,  built  upon  immense  arches  carried  to  a  height 
of  fifty  cubits ;  upon  the  top  flat  stones  sixteen  feet  long 
and  four  feet  wide  were  first  laid,  upon  these  a  bed  of 
reeds  was  spread,  then  a  layer  of  bitumen,  after  which 
came  two  courses  of  brick  or  tile,  and  the  whole  was 
finally  covered  with  sheets  of  solid  lead  carefully  soldered 
to  retain  the  moisture  of  the  soil.1 

The  oldest  coined  money  known  is  that  of  Lydia.  It  is 
an  alloy  of  gold  and  silver,  called  by  the  ancients  electrum; 
but  the  Hindus  say  that  the  Chinese  in  ancient  times  flat- 
tened lead  by  hammering,  and  used  it  as  money.  Accord- 
ing to  De  Goguet,  the  Chinese  coined  money  as  early  as  the 
reign  of  Hoang  Ti,2  2000  B.  c.  Lead  is  mentioned  in  the 
Atharva  Veda  as  in  use  as  money.  The  bronze  coinage  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  dating  from  500  to  50  B.  c.,  contained 
a  notable  amount  of  lead,  ranging  from  three  to  thirty  per 
cent.  After  50  B.  c.  the  proportion  of  lead  used  was  much 
less,  and  was  so  inconsiderable  as  to  warrant  the  suppo- 
sition that  its  presence  was  accidental.  In  the  earlier  coin- 
age it  has  been  suggested  that  lead  was  added  to  the  alloy 
to  render  it  more  fusible,  as  at  that  day  coins  were  cast, 
and  not  stamped  as  in  later  times.3  Leaden  tokens,  or 
medals,  of  ancient  Greek  and  Roman  manufacture  have 
been  found  in  great  numbers,  and  it  has  been  suggested 
that  some  may  have  been  used  as  money  in  ancient  times. 
The  early  coinage  of  Greece  was  counterfeited  by  encasing 
lead  with  the  precious  metals  and  imitating  the  official 
stamp.  It  has  been  said  that  at  one  time,  owing  to  a 
scarcity  of  the  precious  metals,  the  state  resorted  to  this 

1  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  108. 

2  De  Goguet,  Origin  of  Laws,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  283. 

8  Phillips  and  Darlington,  Records  of  Mining,  etc.,  p.  14. 


THE   USES  OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT   TIMES.  149 

method  of  debasing  the  coinage.  Lead  was  used  to  de- 
base the  coinage  of  China,  if  we  may  accept  the  statements 
of  a  recent  writer,  who  says  that  in  585  Souy-Wen-Ty 
forbade  the  working  of  the  tin  and  lead  mines,  in  order  to 
stop  counterfeiting ;  and  in  922  Heou-Tchang  had  all  the 
counterfeit  pieces  of  money,  lead  or  tin,  hunted  up,  even 
among  private  individuals.1 

Polycrates  is  said  to  have  coined  a  great  many  pieces  of 
lead,  cased  with  gold,  to  simulate  the  currency  of  the  coun- 
try.2 Hannibal  practised  a  similar  deception  on  the  people 
of  Gortyna,  in  Crete.  After  the  defeat  of  Antiochus  by 
the  Eomans  Hannibal  retired  to  Gortyna,  carrying  with 
him  immense  treasures.  To  allay  the  excitement  and  envy 
which  the  possession  of  so  great  riches  created,  he  pre- 
tended to  deposit  them  in  the  temple  of  Diana,  and  with 
much  pomp  and  display  conveyed  thither  several  vessels 
filled  with  lead.3 

The  Roman  coin  denarius  was  of  silver,  but  a  writer  in 
a  British  journal  mentions  the  discovery  in  England  of 
a  denarius  made  of  lead,  indicating  perhaps  that  during 
the  Roman  occupation  of  that  country  the  coinage  was 
counterfeited.4  Many  leaden  coins  have  been  found  in 
Italy.  Some  authorities  consider  them  to  be  of  Roman 
origin,  though  upon  some  Egyptian  divinities  are  repre- 
sented, and  others  bear  Greek  inscriptions.  They  are 
generally  referred  to  the  time  of  the  emperors. 

Lead  was  an  important  production  in  Greece  in  ancient 
times.  Pythocles  recommended  that  the  State  should  mo- 
nopolize the  product  of  the  mines,  raise  the  price  three- 
fold, and  thus  increase  the  revenues.  At  this  time  the 
value  of  lead  was  about  a  half  a  cent  per  pound.  In  407 

1  Biot,  in  Journal  Asiatique,  quoted  by  Bapst  in  L'^tain,  p.  22,  note. 

2  Herodotus,  vol.  i.  p.  154.  8  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  154. 

4  Archaeological  Journal  of  the  British  Archaeological  Association,  vol.  zvi. 
p.  212. 


150  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

B.  c.  the  price  is  said  to  have  been  a  cent  and  a  quarter  per 
pound,  and  in  the  time  of  Pliny  the  cost  of  lead  was  about 
two  and  a  quarter  cents  per  pound. 

Lead  is  found  to  be  a  component  of  the  bronze  used  in 
ancient  times  in  the  manufacture  of  weapons  and  cutting 
instruments,  and  it  is  supposed  that  in  these  cases  it  was 
added  to  give  toughness  to  the  otherwise  brittle  alloy.1  In 
casting  statuary  lead  was  frequently  used  in  the  lower 
parts  to  give  greater  stability.  In  some  cases  the  core  of 
the  lower  parts  was  of  lead,  covered  with  a  thin  plating 
of  bronze.  The  addition  of  lead  in  the  manufacture  of 
bronze  was  almost  universal  in  ancient  times.  The  Egyp- 
tian bronzes  are  rich  in  lead.  In  some  cases  lead  was 
added  to  impart  some  desirable  quality  to  the  alloy,  in 
others  to  make  it  liquefy  and  cast  more  readily.  Roman 
bronzes,  mirrors,  bell-handles,  needles,  sword-handles,  statu- 
ary, etc.,  have  notable  quantities  of  lead  in  their  compo- 
sition. The  addition  of  lead  to  bronze  was  at  first  made 
for  practical  reasons,  but  the  quantity  was  finally  increased 
and  became  a  sophistication,  which  was  made  the  subject 
of  a  decree  in  the  third  century,  by  the  provisions  of  which 
bronze  containing  more  than  a  certain  quantity  of  lead 
became  subject  to  confiscation.2 

The  oil-press  is  a  very  ancient  mechanical  contrivance. 
The  old  manufacturer  provided  uprights  and  cross-beams 
of  great  strength.  The  olives  were  put  into  stout  wooden 
boxes,  and  were  separated  at  intervals  by  perforated  leaden 
plates. 

Ho^Pmann  thinks  the  ancient  Greeks  were  occasionally 
unscrupulous  at  their  games  of  chance.  He  infers  from  a 
statement  of  Aristotle  that  they  sometimes  played  with 
dice  loaded  with  lead.3 

1  Phillips  and  Darlington,  Kecords  of  Mining,  etc.,  p.  14.     See  also  Daniel 
Wilson,  LL.D.,  Prehistoric  Man  (London,  1876,  2  vols.),  vol.  i.  p.  252. 

2  See  Hoffmann,  Das  Blei,  etc.,  p.  39.  8  Ibid.,  p.  27. 


THE  USES  OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  151 

The  ancient  navigators  at  first  used  bags  of  sand  for 
anchors ;  sometimes  stones  with  holes  drilled  through  them 
to  receive  the  rope  answered  the  purpose.  Frequently 
stones  securely  fastened  in  a  stout  wooden  frame  were 
used,  such  as  may  perhaps  be  seen  to-day  as  part  of  the 
tackle  of  the  dory  of  the  shore-fisherman  of  the  coast  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  where  it  is  called  a  "  killick."  The 
Phoenicians  used  wooden  anchors  of  this  description,  but 
instead  of  stones  their  anchors  were  provided  with  masses 
of  lead  to  furnish  the  necessary  weight.  The  anchors  of 
the  early  Greeks  consisted  of  large  wooden  pipes  filled 
with  lead.  Diodorus  relates  that  on  the  occasion  of  the 
first  voyage  of  the  Phoenicians  to  Spain  they  obtained 
more  silver  than  their  ships  could  carry  and  took  the  lead 
from  their  anchors  and  replaced  it  with  silver.1  The  ends 
of  the  oars  of  ancient  galleys  were  weighted  with  lead  to 
secure  a  proper  balance.  Homer  mentions  lead,  and  refers 
to  its  characteristics  when  he  says  the  point  of  Iphida- 
mas's  spear  turned  back  like  lead  when  it  struck  the  silver 
shield,2  and  again  when  Iris  plunged  into  the  sea  "  she 
sank  as  sinks  the  ball  of  lead."  3  The  apostle  Paul  refers 
to  the  use  of  lead  in  sounding  in  the  sea,  and  Herodotus 
speaks  of  throwing  the  lead.  Hoffmann  refers  to  the  story 
of  Philetas,  a  teacher  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  who  was 
so  thin  his  companions  asserted  he  wore  leaden  soles  to  his 
shoes  to  prevent  being  overturned  by  the  wind.  Pliny  says 
he  saw  a  man  named  Athanatus  dressed  in  a  harness  of 
lead  weighing  five  hundred  pounds,  and  wearing  leaden 
sandals,  walking  about  on  a  stage,  thus  showing  his  great 
strength.  One  of  the  methods  of  punishment  adopted  by 
the  Greeks  and  Romans  was  to  oblige  the  culprit  to  work  for 
life  in  the  mines  with  pieces  of  lead  wound  about  his  body. 

1  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  320. 

2  Iliad,  Bryant's  translation  (Boston,  1875),  book  xi.  line  280. 
8  Ibid.,  book  xxiv.  line  110. 


152  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

Lead  was  used  as  plummets  and  as  sinkers  for  nets  at  a 
very  remote  period.  Pennant  found  in  Wales,  with  other 
Roman  remains,  a  leaden  sinker,  or  plummet,  of  undoubted 
Roman  origin,  used  probably  for  sinking  a  fish-net.1  In 
the  coat-of-arms  of  the  Ancient  Company  of  Plumbers  of 
London  the  plummet  occupies  a  conspicuous  place.  Beck- 
mann  contends  that  the  plummet  of  the  builder  referred 
to  in  Zechariah  was  of  lead,  and  not  of  tin  as  it  is  generally 
translated.  He  argues  that  lead  would  preferably  be  em- 
ployed for  such  purposes  on  account  of  its  greater  weight, 
which  would  make  it  more  suitable,  and  also  on  account  of 
its  greater  abundance.2 

The  ancients  ascribed  many  curious  properties  to  lead. 
It  was  thought  to  be  endowed  with  the  power  to  make  the 
pomegranate-trees  bloom.  This  was  effected,  it  was  claimed, 
by  encircling  the  trees  with  bands  of  lead.  One  of  the 
oldest  evidences  we  have  of  the  use  of  lead  is  the  discovery 
by  Schliemann  of  pieces  of  the  metal  in  the  cities  found  by 
him  buried  under  the  debris  of  the  mound  at  Hissarlik  in 
the  Troad.  Schliemann  found  in  the  first  buried  city,  with 
shapeless  lumps  of  lead,  articles  of  gold  and  silver  and  a 
bar  of  native  copper,  but  no  iron ;  and  he  directs  attention 
to  this  latter  fact  as  an  evidence  of  the  high  antiquity  of 
the  most  ancient  city  on  Hissarlik.3  In  the  second  city  he 
noticed  neither  silver  nor  lead,  but  gold  and  electrum  were 
found,  and  he  infers  that  lead  was  also  known  and  was 
used.4  In  the  third  city  in  order  from  the  bottom  of  the 
mound  (the  Homeric  Troy,  according  to  Schliemann)  a 
curious  leaden  figure  was  found,  which  Schliemann  classes 

1  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  74.     Several  leaden  plummets  are 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  which  were  doubtless  used  by  the  Greeks  and 
Komans  for  similar  purposes. 

2  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  208. 

8  Dr.  Henry  Schliemann,  Illios :  The  City  and  Country  of  the  Trojans  (New 
York,  1881),  p.  252. 
4  Ibid.,  p.  275. 


THE   USES   OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  153 

as  an  idol.  It  was  some  three  inches  in  height,  with  the 
features  and  attributes  of  a  woman.  It  is  suggested  that 
it  was  intended  to  represent  an  Aphrodite.1  Another 
leaden  object  found  in  the  third  city  is  in  the  form  of 
an  earring.  If  the  Trojan  war  occurred  so  early  as  the 
twelfth  or  thirteenth  century  before  Christ,  and  the  mound 
at  Hissarlik  covers  the  ruins  of  Priam's  city,  these  are  the 
oldest  manufactured  objects  of  lead  of  which  we  have  any 
knowledge.  If  Schliemann  is  wrong  in  his  conjecture  as 
to  the  identity  of  the  buried  city  at  Hissarlik  with  Homer's 
Troy,  the  importance  of  his  investigations,  so  far  as  our 
subject  is  concerned,  is  but  little  impaired,  as  there  can 
scarcely  be  a  question  as  to  the  very  great  antiquity  of 
the  ruins  uncovered  by  him. 

In  the  fourth  city  a  wheel  of  lead  some  four  inches  in 
diameter  and  provided  with  four  spokes  was  discovered. 
This  was  perhaps  a  copy  of  the  chariot-wheel  of  the  period, 
and  Schliemann  suggests  it  may  have  been  used  as  a  votive 
offering.  It  recalls  the  leaden  wheels  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum.  Miniature  wheels  are  not  uncommon  in 
the  museums  of  Europe.  They  have  been  found,  made  of 
gold  and  of  bronze,  in  the  ruins  of  the  Pfahlbauten  of  the 
Swiss  lakes,  and  in  the  beds  of  streams  in  Europe.  The 
early  Grecian  chariot-wheels  were  provided  with  but  four 
spokes,  and  some  of  the  wheels  of  the  chariots  represented 
in  the  Egyptian  sculptures  have  but  four.2  In  the  fifth 
and  sixth  cities  other  leaden  objects  were  found  by  the 
enthusiastic  explorer ;  and  in  the  seventh  city,  founded  as 
Schliemann  believes  as  early  as  700  B.  c.,  among  other 
interesting  objects  discovered  was  a  plate  of  lead  some  two 
and  three  quarter  inches  long  and  broad,  ornamented  with 
a  boar's  head  in  relief.  This  object  may  have  been  used  as 
a  weight  or  a  coin.3  The  lead  found  in  the  earlier  cities  is 

1  Schliemann,  Illios,  p.  337.  a  Ibid.,  p.  565. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  620. 


154  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

generally  in  shapeless  pieces,  and  it  was  evidently  but  little 
used ;  but  in  the  last,  or  the  Greek  city,  the  founding  of 
which  Schliemann  ascribes  to  the  sixth  century  B.  c.,  it  was 
in  general  use,  and  employed,  as  in  the  time  of  Yitruvius 
centuries  later,  as  a  means  of  holding  in  position  the  iron 
clamps  used  in  uniting  stones  in  building  walls  or  other 
heavy  structures.1  Schliemann  also  found  many  objects  of 
lead  in  excavating  at  Tiryns  and  at  Mycenae.  At  the 
latter  place,  among  the  treasures,  was  a  vase  in  form  of  a 
stag,  composed  of  a  mixture  of  one  third  lead  and  two 
thirds  silver ;  and  another  object  composed  of  an  alloy  of 
silver  with  lead  is  described  by  him  as  a  mouthpiece  to 
a  vase.2 

The  ruins  of  most  Roman  masonry  show  the  use  of 
lead  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  iron  clamps  which 
bind  the  stones.  The  great  stone  which  closed  the  entrance 
to  the  mausoleum  at  Halicarnassus  was  firmly  secured  to 
its  supports  by  bronze  pegs,  which  were  held  in  position  by 
running  in  molten  lead.  This  principle  was  observed  with 
other  structures.  Cato  recommends  that  the  beams  form- 
ing the  uprights  of  the  oil-mill  should  be  first  secured  in 
position  by  wedges  of  willow  wood,  and  then  melted  lead 
should  be  poured  in  to  render  the  work  firm  and  immov- 
able. One  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  expedition  undertaken 
by  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  America  to  explore  the 
site  of  the  ancient  city  of  Assos,  in  Asia  Minor,  was 
the  discovery  of  the  stump  of  an  inscribed  Doric  shaft. 
This  column  was  found  in  situ  during  the  digging  in  1882. 
The  rock  upon  which  it  stood  had  been  levelled  off  and  cut 
to  a  broad  base,  in  the  centre  of  which  a  deep  socket  was 
cut  of  the  same  plan  as  the  lower  diameter  of  the  shaft ;  into 
this  socket  the  column  was  inserted,  and  retained  securely 
in  position  by  running  in  molten  lead.  Much  of  the 

1  Dr.  H.  Schliemann,  Troy  and 'its  Remains  (London,  1875),  introduction,  p.  32. 

2  Dr.  H.  Schliemann,  Mycenae  (New  York,  1878),  pp.  77,  210,  257. 


THE  USES   OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT   TIMES.  155 

lead  had  been  cut  out  by  pillagers  before  the  column  was 
covered  by  the  accumulating  debris.  The  age  of  the  shaft 
has  been  determined  by  the  inscriptions  which  are  engraved 
in  two  of  the  channels,  and  it  is  assigned  to  the  sixth 
century  B.  c.1  The  stones  of  this  ruined  city  were  united 
by  iron  clamps,  held  in  position  by  running  in  molten 
lead.  Vitruvius  recommends  in  building  walls  that  they  be 
two  feet  thick,  preserving  a  middle  space,  and  suggests 
strengthening  the  wall  with  clamps  of  iron  run  with  lead.2 
Overbeck  mentions  a  singular  use  of  lead  for  architectural 
purposes  discovered  in  the  ruins  of  Pompeii.  The  brick 
walls  of  the  atrium  of  one  of  the  houses  were  found  to 
be  covered  with  sheet-lead,  fastened  to  the  brickwork  by 
means  of  innumerable  nails,  whose  projecting  heads  served 
to  tie  the  stucco  work  with  which  the  walls  were  afterward 
covered.  It  is  supposed  that  the  sheet-lead  was  added  to 
prevent  the  absorption  of  moisture.3 

Lead  was  also  used  in  many  cases  where  iron  wire  or 
iron  or  wooden  hoops  are  used  to-day.  Wooden  casks  were 
sometimes  furnished  with  leaden  hoops,  and  the  amphorae 
used  for  storing  water  and  wine  were  re-enforced  with  bands 
of  lead.  Broken  amphorae  were  repaired  by  means  of 
leaden  straps.  Holes  were  bored  in  the  parts,  into  which 
plugs  of  lead  were  run,  the  leaden  hoops  or  straps  were 
then  put  on,  inside  and  out,  and  held  in  position  by  secur- 
ing them  to  these  leaden  plugs.  Lead  was  used  for  lids 
of  vessels  which  it  was  desired  to  cover  closely.  Leaden 
wire  found  at  Hissarlik,  it  has  been  suggested,  was  used 
by  the  women  to  fasten  their  hair,  as  fine  iron  wire  is  used 
to-day. 

The  Tirynthians  were  well  acquainted  with  lead  and  its 

1  Joseph  Thatcher  Clark,  in  American  Journal  of  Archaeology,  vol.  ii. 
p.  268. 

3  The  Architecture  of  Marcus  Vitruvius  Pollio,  translated  by  Joseph  Gwilt 
(London,  1839),  p.  57. 

8  Dr.  J.  Overbeck,  Pompeii  (Leipzig,  1856),  p.  242. 


156  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

uses.  Schliemann  found  several  lumps  of  melted  lead  in 
the  ruins  of  the  ancient  fortress,  and  a  large  piece  repre- 
senting the  head  and  shoulders  of  a  pig,  besides  several 
pieces  of  sheet-lead.  This  ancient  people  —  their  city  was 
destroyed  more  than  460  years  before  Christ  —  used  to 
repair  their  earthen  vessels  with  lead.  Several  pieces 
of  large  vases  and  jars  bound  together  with  clamps  of 
lead  have  been  discovered,  with  some  leaden  clamps  which 
Schliemann  thought  had  served  the  same  purpose.1 

Lead  has  not  been  found  in  dredging  on  the  sites  of  the 
ancient  lake  dwellings  in  the  Swiss  lakes,  except  as  a 
component  of  the  bronze  which  was  largely  used  in  the 
construction  of  domestic  utensils  and  of  arms.  The  small 
percentage  of  lead  in  the  bronze  is  evidence  that  its  pres- 
ence is  accidental,  and  can  be  accounted  for  only  by  assum- 
ing that  it  was  an  impurity  in  the  copper.  Iron  has  not 
been  found  in  the  ruins  of  the  earlier  stations,  and  silver  is 
also  absent  in  those  ascribed  by  archaeologists  to  the  age  of 
stone  and  of  bronze,  while  gold  frequently  appears.  It  is 
probable  therefore  that  Desor  and  Le  Hon  are  correct  in 
assuming  that  these  metals  were  unknown  to  the  builders 
of  the  pile  dwellings  of  that  age.  Le  Hon  refers  to  the 
discovery,  near  Tifenau.  of  what  he  terms  money  of  a 
very  high  antiquity  made  of  potin,  a  mixture  of  lead  and 
tin.2 

From  remote  times  lead  cast  in  thin  sheets  or  hammered 
into  plates  has  been  used  to  cover  or  to  ornament  furniture 
and  armor,  and  to  make  tablets  upon  which  to  transcribe 
and  thus  preserve  public  acts  and  precious  literary  produc- 
tions. Job  prays  that  his  words  may  be  graven  with  an 
iron  pen  and  lead  in  the  rock  forever.3  Some  writers  ex- 

1  Schliemann,  Tiryns,  pp.  171,  172. 

2  E.  Desor,  Les  Palafittes  ou  Constructions  Lacrustes  (Paris,  1865),  pp.  72, 
73 ;  H.  Le  Hon,  L'Homme  Fossile  en  Europe  (Bruxelles  et  Paris,  1877),  pp. 
245,  328. 

8  Job.  xix.  24. 


THE  USES  OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  157 

plain  this  to  mean  that  he  desired  his  works  to  be  graven 
in  the  stone,  and  the  incised  portion  filled  with  lead ;  and 
others  that  he  intended  they  should  be  written  with  an 
iron  pen  or  stylus  upon  tablets  of  lead. 

The  consul  Hirtius,  besieged  in  Modena,  wrote  upon  a 
leaf  of  lead  respecting  his  situation  to  Decius  Brutus,  who 
replied  by  the  same  method.  Pausanias  showed  at  the 
hippodrome  a  poem  of  Hesiod  written  upon  sheets  of  lead. 
Pliny  refers  to  public  acts  preserved  upon  leaves  of  this 
metal.1  Some  remarkable  examples  of  the  use  of  leaden 
tablets  for  this  purpose  are  preserved  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum. One  plate  of  lead,  beaten  or  hammered  to  about 
the  thickness  of  a  wafer,  bears  an  inscription  in  Greek, 
apparently  made  with  a  sharp-pointed  instrument  of  iron 
or  other  hard  metal;  another  bears  a  Latin  inscription, 
and  is  dated  Rome,  738.  One  very  thin  lamina  bears  the 
following  inscription  in  Latin :  "  By  this  Instrument, 
Charlemagne  assumes  the  title  of  '  Occidentalis  Imperi- 
alis,'  etc.,  801."  Many  of  the  letters  in  these  plates  still 
retain  the  thin  scrapings  of  metal  struck  out  by  the  stylus. 
Dr.  Birch,  from  whose  article  on  this  subject  in  "  Archae- 
ologia  "  the  descriptions  of  the  tablets  in  the  British  Museum 
are  taken,  is  in  doubt  respecting  their  age,  and  thinks  they 
may  perhaps  be  referred  to  a  much  later  time,  the  early 
part  of  the  thirteenth  century.  In  the  ninth  century  the 
custom  of  writing  precious  matter  upon  metallic  leaves 
prevailed.  "Indeed,"  says  Dr.  Birch,  "the  custom  does 
not  seem  to  have  failed  from  the  classical  period  —  when  it 
was  the  fashion  to  inscribe  maledictions  upon  leaden  plates, 
afterwards  deposited  in  some  sacred  precinct  —  until  the 
time  when  George,  Archbishop  of  Ravenna,  appropriated  a 
copy  of  the  New  Testament  written  upon  leaves  of  gold." 2 
In  the  Lawrence-Cesnola  collection  there  are  some  leaden 

1  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xiii.  chap.  xxi. 

2  Archseologia,  vol.  xliv.,  article  by  Dr.  Birch. 


158  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

plates  similar  to  those  anciently  deposited  under  the  pave- 
ment of  the  temples  and  inscribed  with  imprecations.  One 
has  an  inscription  which  indicates  a  very  remote  origin.1 
These  imprecation-tablets  were  usually  surreptitiously  de- 
posited in  tombs,  and  sometimes  even  in  the  coffin  of  the 
deceased,  that  the  curse  might  follow  him  to  the  other  world. 
They  were  addressed  generally  to  the  gods  of  the  lower 
regions,  and  seem  to  have  been  more  frequently  deposited 
by  women  than  by  men.  The  causes  which  led  to  this 
method  of  seeking  vengeance  seem  to  have  been  many  and 
various.  In  one  case  a  woman  curses  the  person  who 
made  her  lover  untrue  to  her ;  in  another  a  wife  curses  a 
slanderer,  who  said  she  intended  to  poison  her  husband ; 
upon  another  tablet  imprecations  are  directed  against 
those  who  cheated  by  giving  light  weight ;  an  unknown 
thief  is  cursed  for  stealing  a  bracelet ;  a  wife  cursed  the 
maid  who  had  tempted  her  husband  to  desert  her  and  her 
children. 

Leaden  tablets  were  deposited  at  the  temple  of  Jupiter, 
at  Dodona,  upon  which  petitions  to  the  oracle  were  in- 
scribed. These  petitions  asked  replies  to  questions  relating 
to  political  and  to  private  affairs :  the  whereabouts  of  a 
mattress  which  had  been  stolen  is  anxiously  inquired  for ; 
the  sick  ask  what  sacrifices  to  offer  for  the  restoration  of 
their  health ;  tradespeople  ask  if  their  ventures  will  be 
successful,  etc.2  The  word  plumbum  was  sometimes  used 
by  the  Romans  to  designate  spouts  or  conductors  of  water. 
These  pipes  were  usually  made  of  lead,  but  in  the  villa  of 
Antoninus  Pius,  at  Lanurium,  one  of  these  conduits  has 
been  discovered  a  portion  of  which  it  is  said  is  made  of 
pure  silver.3 

Roman  ruins  everywhere  show  the  care  and  expense  be- 

1  Salamina,  A.  P.  Di  Cesnola  (London,  1882),  introduction  by  Dr.  Birch. 

2  See  Hoffmann,  Das  Blei,  etc.,  p.  31. 

8  M.  Rich,  Dictionnaire  des  Antiquites,  p.  272. 


THE   USES  OF  LEAD  IN   ANCIENT  TIMES.  159 

stowed  by  this  people  in  their  efforts  to  secure  an  abundant 
supply  of  pure  and  wholesome  water.  They  sometimes 
used  pipes  of  earthenware,  but  generally  lead  was  the  ma- 
terial employed  in  their  manufacture.  The  leaden  pipes 
were  of  fixed  sizes,  and  they  were  designated  by  their 
calibre.  In  Pliny's  time  as  many  as  fifteen  different  sizes 
were  in  common  use.  They  were  made  by  casting  a  sheet 
of  lead  of  proper  size,  then  bending  it  over  a  core  and  lap- 
ping the  joint,  which  was  hammered  and  firmly  closed  by 
soldering.  They  were  made  in  regular  lengths  of  about 
ten  feet,  and  were  from  thirty  to  one  hundred  inches  in 
circumference.  The  manufacturers  of  lead  pipe,  when  cast- 
ing the  sheets,  introduced  into  the  table  on  which  the 
molten  lead  was  poured,  or  into  the  mould,  objects  which 
perhaps  resembled  modern  type  ;  thus  when  the  sheets  were 
cast  there  appeared  upon  them  inscriptions,  which  generally 
referred  to  the  date  of  manufacture,  by  giving  the  name  of 
the  consul  then  in  power,  or  of  the  reigning  emperor. 
Sometimes  the  name  of  a  private  person  or  of  a  company 
to  whose  order  the  pipe  was  made  was  introduced,  and 
frequently  the  name  of  the  manufacturer  appears,  as  ex 
officina  Martini  plumbarii. 

The  enormous  quantity  of  lead  pipe  discovered  in  Italy 
and  in  the  provinces  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  manu- 
facture of  this  article  must  have  been  a  most  important 
branch  of  industry  during  the  time  of  the  emperors. 

Vitruvius,  referring  to  the  water  supply  of  large  places, 
says  :  "Water  is  conducted  in  three  ways,  either  in  streams, 
by  means  of  channels  built  to  convey  it,  or  in  leaden  pipes, 
or  in  earthen  tubes.  If  the  water  is  to  be  brought  in 
leaden  pipes  a  reservoir  is  first  made  near  the  spring, 
whence  to  the  reservoir  in  the  city  pipes  are  laid  pro- 
portioned to  the  quantity  of  water  to  be  conveyed."  Vit- 
ruvius describes  with  great  care  the  method  of  laying  the 
pipe,  the  proper  fall  to  give  to  it,  and  suggests  means  to 


160  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

overcome  engineering  difficulties.1  The  water  from  Mount 
Pila  crossed  three  valleys  through  inverted  syphons.  The 
water  was  collected  in  a  reservoir  upon  one  hill  and  flowed 
through  nine  leaden  pipes,  each  eight  and  a  half  inches  in 
diameter  and  one  and  a  half  inches  thick,  down  the  hill 
to  an  arcade  eighty  feet  high,  which  it  crossed,  and  then 
ascended  the  hill  on  the  other  side,  where  it  was  collected 
in  another  reservoir.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  lead 
alone  of  this  immense  work  would  cost  in  modern  times 
two  millions  of  dollars. 

Leaden  pipes  for  conveying  water  were  commonly  used 
in  early  times.  They  have  been  found  in  the  ruins  of 
cities  in  Asia,  in  Egypt,  and  in  Greece,  at  Herculaneum, 
and  Pompeii.  Sometimes  pipes  for  this  purpose  were  made 
of  copper,  stone,  earthenware,  wood,  and  even  of  leather, 
but  lead  was  principally  employed.  Yitruvius  says  that 
the  action  of  lead  is  deleterious,  and  that  to  secure  whole- 
some water  it  should  be  brought  through  earthen  pipes. 
He  refers  to  the  pallid  color  of  the  men  who  work  in  the 
lead-works,  and  says  that  the  fumes  from  the  molten  lead 
destroy  the  vigor  of  the  blood.2  The  ancients  well  under- 
stood the  poisonous  nature  of  lead;  their  writers  frequently 
refer  to  it.  Pausanias  says  that  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Puteoli  there  are  hot  springs,  the  water  of  which  in  a 
few  years  destroys  the  lead  pipes  through  which  it  runs. 
The  water  was  probably  contaminated  with  hydrogen  sul- 
phide. Notwithstanding  this  knowledge  of  the  deleterious 
effects  of  lead  upon  water  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans 
used  kettles,  buckets,  and  other  domestic  utensils  made 
of  it. 

The  pipes  used  by  the  Romans  were  not  always  sol- 
dered at  the  joint ;  occasionally  they  were  hammered  to- 
gether and  closed  by  the  blow-pipe  flame,  or  by  a  cement. 
The  joint  of  a  leaden  pipe  of  undoubted  Roman  manu- 

1  Vitruvius,  p.  196.  2  Ibid.,  p.  255. 


THE  USES  OF  LEAD  IN   ANCIENT  TIMES.  161 

facture,  found  at  Uriconium,  now  Wroxeter,  England,  was 
closed  with  cement.1  The  ancients  were  acquainted  with 
the  art  of  soldering  at  a  very  early  period.  Mention  has 
been  made  of  the  discovery,  by  Wilkinson,  of  examples 
of  soldering  in  the  tombs  of  ancient  Egypt.  Pliny  gives 
elaborate  instructions  for  soldering  gold,  copper,  and  lead. 
The  latter,  he  says,  "  is  united  by  the  aid  of  white  lead," 
meaning  tin  probably.2  According  to  Livy,  some  men 
digging  (in  183  B.  c.)  upon  the  farm  of  Lucius  Petillius 
discovered  two  stone  chests,  the  covers  of  which  were 
soldered  with  lead.3  The  sling  was  one  of  the  earliest 
weapons  used  in  war.  The  Egyptian  monuments  in  their 
decorations  testify  to  its  common  use  in  the  early  days  of 
that  empire.  The  Israelites  were  skilled  in  the  use  of 
this  primitive  weapon.  "Among  all  the  people  there 
were  seven  hundred  chosen  men  left-handed  ;  every  one 
could  sling  stones  at  a  hair's  breadth  and  not  miss." 4 
The  Greeks  at  first  despised  the  weapon,  but  the  troops 
of  Xenophon,  during  their  retreat  from  Asia,  were  so 
badly  punished  by  the  slingers  of  the  Persian  army  that 
they  adopted  it ;  and  they  soon  became  more  expert  in 
its  use  than  their  teachers. 

The  slingers  of   the   Egyptian  and  Persian  armies  in 

1  The  Archaeological  Journal  of  the  British  Archaeological  Association,  vol. 
xvi.  p.  212. 

2  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiii.  chap.  xxx. 

8  Titus  Livius,  History  of  Rome,  translated  by  C.  Edmonds  (London,  1878), 
book  xl.  chap.  xxix. 

4  Judges  xx.  1G  ;  1  Chronicles  xii.  22.  Strabo  tells  us  that  the  natives  of 
the  Balearic  Isles  were  especially  noted  for  their  skill  with  the  sling,  which  they 
used  with  either  hand.  Their  children  were  thoroughly  practised  in  the  use  of 
this  weapon.  Their  food  was  placed  upon  a  high  beam  or  the  branch  of  a  tree, 
and  could  only  be  enjoyed  when  it  had  been  brought  down  with  the  sling.  The 
Balearic  slingers  were  efficient  allies  of  the  Carthaginians.  They  formed  corps 
of  about  one  thousand  men  each,  and  hurled  their  stones  with  such  force  and 
precision  as  to  produce  with  them  all  the  effect  of  musket-balls.  Their  stones 
crashed  through  armor  and  buckler,  and  were  often  the  means  of  turning  defeat 
into  victory.  See  Strabo,  Geography,  book  iii.  chap.  v.  ;  also  Heeren,  Ancient 
Nations  of  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  251. 

11 


162  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

ancient  times  went  to  the  brook  before  a  battle,  and 
carefully  selecting  smooth  stones  of  proper  shape  and  size, 
filled  the  bag  which  every  slinger  carried  suspended  from 
his  shoulder ;  but  the  art  of  war  had  so  far  progressed  in 
the  fifth  century  B.  c.  that  the  use  of  stones  for  such 
purposes  had  been  superseded  in  the  Grecian  armies  by 
leaden  bullets.  The  sling-bullet  of  the  Greek  soldier  was 
in  shape  something  resembling  an  almond,  elongated  and 
conical  at  each  end,  thus  giving  greater  range  and  pre- 
cision, and  showing  that  the  advantage  of  this  form  of 
projectile  was  clearly  understood  at  that  early  day. 
Stores  of  these  bullets  were  kept  in  the  arsenals  for  future 
use.  Occasionally,  however,  the  metal  was  transported 
with  the  advance  stores  of  the  army,  and  on  the  eve  of 
an  engagement  the  bullets  were  cast  in  the  camp.1  These 
leaden  balls  generally  bore  an  inscription,  in  relief,  in- 
dicating the  division  or  corps  of  the  army  to  which  they 
were  supplied,  or  the  name  of  a  famous  general,  or  a 
device,  such  as  a  thunderbolt,  a  star,  an  arrow-head ;  or 
a  telling  inscription,  such  as  "  Appear,"  "  Show  your- 
self," "  Desist,"  "  Take  this,"  "  Strike  Rome,"  and  similar 
inscriptions  and  devices.  They  have  been  found  on  the 
plains  of  Marathon,  Cephalonia,  Ithaca,  at  Athens,  and  at 
other  places.  At  Florence  they  have  been  found  in  such 
large  numbers  as  to  give  rise  to  the  suggestion  that  a 
Roman  arsenal  was  formerly  established  there.  These 
leaden  bullets  were  made  by  casting  in  a  stone  mould. 
One  stone  usually  had  many  perforations,  or  moulds, 
which  seem  to  have  been  connected,  as  many  bullets  were 
made  at  one  casting,  and  when  taken  from  the  mould 
they  appeared  like  a  bunch  of  grapes,  each  bullet  having 
attached  to  it  a  little  stem.2  The  Roman  sling-bullets  are 
less  frequently  found  than  the  Greek,  and  the  inscription 
in  raised  characters,  which  is  generally  found  upon  the 

1  Arehseologia,  vol.  xxxii.  2  Ibid. 


THE   USES  OF  LEAD  IN   ANCIENT  TIMES.  163 

Greek  bullet,  is  wanting  on  the  Roman,  or  is  limited  to 
the  number  of  the  legion  to  which  the  soldier  belonged. 

Besides  its  use  as  a  missile,  the  sling-bullet  was  fre- 
quently used  to  convey  traitorous  information  to  the 
defenders  of  a  beleaguered  place,  or  to  the  camp  of  the  be- 
siegers ;  and  it  was  also  used  as  a  means  of  communication 
with  a  place  otherwise  inaccessible.  These  bullets  gen- 
erally weighed  two  to  three  ounces,  though  some  were 
much  heavier ;  they  are  frequently  referred  to  by  ancient 
writers,  who  testify  to  their  efficiency  in  battle.  A  large 
and  interesting  collection  of  these  curious  objects  is  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum. 

In  more  modern  times  cannon-balls  have  been  made 
of  lead.  In  an  inventory  of  munitions  of  war  provided 
by  the  city  of  London  against  an  expected  invasion  by 
the  French  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  this  item  occurs  : 
"Also  in  the  chamber  of  the  Guildhall  there  are  six  in- 
struments of  latone  (or  latten)  called  gonnes,  and  five 
roleres  to  the  same,  also  pellets  of  lead  for  the  same  in- 
struments, which  weigh  4  hundred  weight  and  a  half."  * 
In  the  inventory  of  the  keeper  of  the  king's  stores  at 
Calais,  in  1369,  there  appears  the  first  mention  of  cannon- 
balls  in  the  records  of  the  British  Government.  This 
officer  accounted  for  fifteen  guns,  three  great  guns,  salt- 
petre, sulphur,  gunpowder,  and  two  hundred  leaden  balls.2 
In  a  collection  of  inventories  occurs  the  following :  "  Inven- 
tour  of  the  Artaileyeorie  and  Munitions  with  Plenissing, 
being  within  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  1566.  Item  :  Cer- 
tain Chanyeit  bullettis  of  leid  for  battard,  moyan  and 
falcone.  Item  :  Certain  small  bullettis  and  dyss  of  irne, 
serving  to  mak  bullettis  for  moyane  and  cutthrottis." 3 

1  G.  A.  Raikes,  History  of  the  Honourable  Artillery  Company  (London,  1878), 
vol.  i.  p.  3. 

2  Archaeologia,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  379. 

8  A  Collection  of  Inventories  of  Royal  Wardrobe  and  Jewell  Houses,  and  of 


164  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

Lead  was  used  in  ancient  times,  in  warfare,  in  other 
forms  than  that  of  the  bullet  of  the  slinger.  Molten  lead 
was  thrown  from  the  battlements  of  beleaguered  places 
upon  the  heads  of  the  assailants ;  and  when  battering 
rams  were  moved  up  to  breach  the  walls,  the  defenders, 
by  means  of  cranes,  threw  down  upon  them  great  masses 
of  lead  to  crush  and  destroy  them.  According  to  Livy, 
the  praetor  Lucretius  (in  173  B.  c.)  pushed  the  siege  of 
Haliartus,  in  Boeotia,  with  great  vigor ;  but  when  the  ram 
was  applied  to  the  walls,  the  townsmen  crushed  it  to  the 
ground  by  dropping  on  it  a  mass  of  lead.1  When  the 
Romans  attacked  the  city  of  Syracuse,  Marcellus  made 
the  attack  on  the  sea  side,  and  advanced  with  a  fleet  of 
sixty  vessels  filled  with  soldiers  armed  with  slings,  bows, 
and  javelins ;  and  with  eight  vessels  arranged  to  throw 
against  the  walls  machines  called  "  sackbuts,"  which  were 
so  contrived  that  when  placed  in  position  the  soldiers 
from  the  top  of  them  could  attack  the  defenders ;  but 
when  they  attempted  to  raise  them  "  Archimedes  put  in 
motion  an  engine  of  his  own  invention,  which  suddenly 
appeared  above  the  walls,  and  stretching  its  long  beak 
far  beyond  the  battlements,  dropped  great  masses  of  lead 
upon  the  sackbuts,  breaking  them  and  endangering  the 
vessels  and  all  on  board." 2 

The  Romans  used  a  barbarous  implement  for  the  pun- 
ishment of  criminals,  and  for  disciplining  their  slaves.  It 
was  a  sort  of  whip  like  the  knout  of  the  Russians  or  the 
boatswain's  cat  formerly  in  use  in  the  navy.  Several 
chains  were  attached  to  a  short  handle,  the  end  of  each 
chain  being  furnished  with  a  button  of  lead.  With  this 
instrument  criminals  and  many  of  the  early  Christians 
were  whipped  to  death.  The  gladiator  pugilists  fastened 

Artillery  and  Munitions  in  some  of  the  Royal  Castles,  1488-1606.     Edinburgh, 
1815. 

1  Livy,  book  xlii.  chap.  Ixiii.  2  Polybius,  vol.  iii.  p.  11. 


THE   USES  OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  165 

leaden  weights  upon  their  knuckles  to  increase  the  force  of 
their  blows.1 

Curious  little  leaden  figures  of  nude  women,  some  three 
or  four  inches  high,  of  Greek  or  Roman  origin,  are  pre- 
served in  some  of  the  museums  of  Europe.  These  figures 
are  provided  with  projections  by  which  they  can  be  sus- 
pended or  made  to  stand  upright.  They  are  supposed  to 
have  been  used  in  the  temples  ;  other  leaden  figures  repre- 
sent Diana.  Hoffmann  is  of  the  opinion  that  they  were 
used  as  similar  leaden  figures  were  some  centuries  later 
in  Christian  countries,  as  a  souvenir  of  a  visit  to  a  holy 
shrine.  Pilgrim  signs  were  sold  at  Paphos  and  at  Hiera- 
polis,  and  at  the  Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus.  The  signs 
representing  nude  female  figures  may  have  had  some 
connection  with  the  cult  of  Venus.  Leaden  representa- 
tions of  cavalry  soldiers  of  ancient  origin  are  not  uncom- 
mon in  European  museums.  They  have  been  considered 
to  be  children's  toys,  but  may  have  been  used  as  votive 
offerings.  In  the  museum  at  Buda  Pesth  two  leaden 
tablets  are  preserved,  upon  which  are  inscribed  the  details 
of  the  worship  of  Mithras.2  Decorated  leaden  vases, 
Hoffmann  says,  are  rare.  He  refers  to  a  most  beautiful 
specimen  described  and  pictured  by  Overbeck  in  his  mas- 
terly work  on  Pompeii.  A  number  of  interesting  objects 
in  lead,  of  ancient  Grecian  and  Roman  origin,  are  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum, — rude  figures  of  warriors, 
some  three  inches  high,  cavalry  and  foot  soldiers,  little 
leaden  horses  and  dogs,  and  a  leaden  chair ;  these  may 
have  been  used  as  children's  toys,  as  toys  of  pewter  and 
of  lead  were  common  in  Rome  at  the  time  of  the  Empire. 
A  number  of  leaden  finger-rings,  found  in  a  tomb  at 
Beneventum,  an  ancient  city  of  southern  Italy;  a  vase 

1  See  Rich,  Dictionnaire  des  Antiquites,  p.  372  ;  also  Hoffman,  Das  Blei,  etc., 
p.  24  ti  seq. 

2  See  Hoffmann,  Das  Blei,  etc.,  p.  18. 


166 


A  HISTORY  OF   LEAD. 


from  a  tomb  at  Halicarnassus ;  an  elaborately  decorated 
vase,  some  seven  inches  high,  with  figures  in  relief,  rep- 
resenting the  seasons,  and  with  a  circlet  of  colored  glass 
or  stone  ornaments,  found  at  Blacas ;  bracelets  of  lead ; 
small  vases  or  boxes,  perhaps  to  contain  eye-salve ;  a 
number  of  little  leaden  wheels,  elaborately  fashioned  and 
decorated ;  plummets,  sinkers,  and  custom-house  seals ;  and 
plates  of  lead  stamped  with  inscriptions,  mentioned  above, 
are  also  preserved  there.  A  small  bowl  of  lead  about 
three  inches  in  diameter,  of  undoubted  Roman  manufact- 
ure, was  found  at  Uriconium.1  Bapst  quotes  a  description 
by  the  Abbe  Martigny,  of  two  curious  objects  in  lead,  of 
the  period  of  the  Roman  Empire,  which  the  Abbe  thought 
were  children's  toys.  They  are  imitations  of  the  vases 
used  in  the  church  for  exposing  and  elevating  the  Host.2 
In  the  museums  at  Moscow  and  at  Berlin  many  curious 
leaden  figures  are  preserved,  including  some  leaden  swine, 
the  use  of  which  is  unknown.8  The  museum  at  York, 
England,  is  rich  in  Roman  relics,  among  which  may  be 
noticed  leaden  coffins  and  ossuaries ;  a  leaden  weight 
dredged  from  the  bed  of  the  Ouse ;  lamps  and  candlesticks 
of  lead,  —  all  of  Roman  manufacture.  There  is  preserved 
in  the  Cesnola  collection  in  the  New  York  Metropolitan 
Museum  a  miniature  leaden  table.  It  is  ascribed  to  the 
time  of  the  Roman  republic,  and  may  have  been  used  as 
a  votive  offering. 

Lead  has  been  used  through  all  historic  times  for  pur- 
poses connected  with  the  burial  of  the  dead,  for  ossuaries, 
and  for  coffins,  for  bas  reliefs  and  tablets  commemorative 
of  the  virtues  of  the  deceased  ;  many  ancient  bas  reliefs 
seem  to  represent  the  portrait  of  the  person  they  are  in- 
tended to  commemorate.  At  Saida,  in  the  ruins  of  Mara- 

1  See  Archaeological  Journal  of  Archaeological  Institute  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  vol.  xvi.,  article  by  Phillips. 

2  L'&ain,  par  Germain  Bapst  (Paris,  1884),  p.  44.  8  Ibid.,  p.  45. 


THE  USES  OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  167 

thus,  an  important  city  on  the  coast  of  Phoenicia,  destroyed 
earlier  than  150  B.  c.,  leaden  coffins  have  been  found  or- 
namented with  curious  inscriptions.1  The  ancient  Greeks 
and  Romans  generally  cremated  their  dead ;  accordingly 
ossuaries  of  lead  are  not  uncommon  in  the  burial-places 
of  those  countries.  These  mortuary  urns  were  either 
cylindrical  in  form  or  shaped  like  ordinary  pottery.  In 
some  cases  the  leaden  urns  were  decorated  with  elaborate 
designs  in  relief,  or  were  covered  with  inscriptions.  They 
have  been  found  in  great  numbers  in  Italy,  in  ancient 
Gaul,  in  England,  and  in  other  countries  of  Europe ;  and 
many  are  preserved  in  European  museums.  When  dis- 
covered they  frequently  contained  calcined  bones,  and  in 
all  cases  the  contents  or  surroundings  were  such  as  to 
leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  purposes  for  which  they  were 
used.  Tylor  remarks  upon  the  methods  employed  in  the 
manufacture  of  some  of  the  leaden  funeral  vases  found  in 
England,  and  concludes  that  the  lead  was  first  cast  flat, 
in  sheets,  then  bent  round  into  cylinders,  the  edges  being 
joined  with  the  blow-pipe  without  solder.  The  Romans 
understood  perfectly  the  art  of  casting,  and  the  use  of  the 
blow-pipe.  One  of  the  coffins  examined  by  Tylor  had  cast 
upon  it  the  decoration  known  as  the  "  reel  pattern/'  so 
placed  as  to  act  as  a  support,  or  rib ;  it  was,  moreover,  cast 
hollow  in  order  to  save  metal ;  its  position  strengthened 
the  flat  top  and  sides  of  the  coffin ;  another  had  an  eight- 
rayed  star  cast  on  the  inside  of  the  flat  bottom.2 

Leaden  coffins  have  been  found  in  France,  Italy,  and  in 
Belgium,  but  none  have  been  discovered  in  Greece,  and  of 
those  found  in  continental  Europe  but  few,  it  is  thought, 
date  so  far  back  as  the  first  two  or  three  centuries  of  our 
era.  In  England,  however,  the  custom  of  burying  the 
dead  in  coffins  of  imperishable  materials  generally  pre- 

1  Bapst,  L'Etain,  quoting  Kenan's  Mission  de  Phenicie,  p.  45. 

2  Archseologia,  vol.  xlviii.  p.  221. 


168  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

vailed  during  Roman  occupation,  —  possibly,  it  has  been 
suggested,  because  the  material  was  very  abundant  and 
cheap.  Hundreds  of  leaden  coffins  of  Roman  origin  have 
been  found  in  London,  Kent,  Wilts,  Gloucestershire,  York- 
shire, and  in  other  districts  during  the  past  century,  and 
Smith  remarks :  "  There  is  no  reason  why  this  disin- 
terment  may  not  have  gone  on  for  a  thousand  years  or 
more,  and  there  are  doubtless  many  yet  buried  which 
will  never  be  disturbed." l  Some  of  these  coffins  are 
very  elaborately  decorated  with  circles,  raised  figures, 
and  beaded  lines  in  great  variety,  the  escalop  shell  being 
prominent. 

Hunt  describes  a  Roman  tomb  discovered  in  Monmouth- 
shire. It  consisted  of  a  stone  chamber,  in  which  was  a 
huge  stone  coffin  lined  inside  with  sheet  lead,  fitting  accu- 
rately all  around,  soldered  at  the  corners,  and  covered  with 
a  plain  oblong  sheet  of  lead.2  Many  of  the  leaden  coffins 
were  less  elaborate  in  their  construction  and  ornamentation. 
They  have  been  found  made  of  two  sheets,  or  pieces  of  lead, 
one  bent  so  as  to  form  the  bottom  and  the  two  sides,  the 
other  forming  the  top  and  ends.  Phillips  describes  one 
made  of  a  single  sheet  of  lead,  cut  and  folded  so  as  to  form 
a  simple  chest,  over  which  was  placed  a  leaden  cover.3 
They  were  often  very  heavy,  and  occasionally  were  of 
sufficient  size  to  hold  two  and  rarely  three  bodies.  It  was 
the  custom,  after  the  body  had  been  placed  in  the  coffin,  to 
pour  in  calcium  sulphate,  which  filled  all  the  interstices  and 
formed,  after  the  decomposition  of  the  body,  a  perfect  cast. 
Several  interesting  examples  of  these  casts  may  be  seen  in 
the  museum  at  York,  in  England.  The  great  weight  of  the 
gypsum  made  it  necessary,  in  these  cases,  to  support  the 
yielding  metal ;  the  coffins  were,  therefore,  frequently 

1  C.  Roach  Smith,  Collectanea  Antiqua  (London,  1848),  vol.  vii. 

2  Hunt,  British  Mining,  p.  37. 

8  John  Phillips,  Rivers,  Mountains,  and  Sea  Coast  of  Yorkshire,  etc.,  p.  192. 


THE   USES  OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  169 

strapped  with  lead,  or  were  placed  in  thick  stone  or  stout 
wooden  boxes.  Occasionally  they  were  double,  and  one  has 
been  found  which  is  estimated  to  weigh  more  than  a  ton.1 

Leaden  coffins  have  been  exhumed  in  France,  in  which 
coins  of  Roman  emperors  have  been  found  ;  these  coffins 
bear  a  strong  resemblance  to  those  found  in  England,  and 
are  frequently  elaborately  decorated  with  raised  figures ; 
in  one  instance,  these  decorations  are  lions'  heads,  which 
appear  to  have  been  stamped  with  dies.  The  escalop  shell, 
which  is  seen  so  frequently  on  the  English  coffins,  is  want- 
ing in  the  decoration  of  continental  coffins ;  that  ornament 
appears  to  have  been  peculiar  to  England. 

The  Anglo-Saxons  did  not  bury  their  dead  in  leaden 
coffins ;  but  in  later  times  lead  was  again  used  for  such 
purposes.  The  coffins  of  Earl  Warrene  and  his  wife  were 
made  of  lead  precisely  in  the  same  fashion,  and  with  the 
same  decorations  as  those  of  the  Romans.2  Edward  the 
Black  Prince  was  buried  in  a  leaden  coffin ;  and  the  body 
of  Richard  II.  was  also  "  lapped  in  lede."  Lardner  relates 
the  story  of  the  disposition  of  the  remains  of  Geoffrey 
Mandeville  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I. ;  dying  under  the 
curse  of  excommunication  he  could  not  be  buried  in  con- 
secrated ground,  so  some  of  the  Knights  Templar  enclosed 
his  body  in  a  leaden  coffin,  and  hung  it  upon  a  tree  in  an 
orchard  of  the  old  temple.3 

Leaden  weights  of  ancient  Roman  or  Grecian  origin  are 
not  uncommon  in  the  museums  of  Europe ;  they  are  usually 
six-sided,  and  the  denomination  is  indicated  by  lines  or  dots. 
r  The  Greek  weights  have  inscriptions  representing  the  de- 
nomination of  the  weight,  and  also  a  raised  figure  like  an 
armorial  bearing  which  seems  to  indicate  the  town  or  dis- 
trict where  it  was  issued  or  adopted.  Steelyard  weights  are 
more  rare,  but  Hotfmann  mentions  one  in  the  collection  of 

1  C.  Roach  Smith,  Collectanea  Antiqua,  vol.  iii.  2  Ibid. 

8  Lardner's  Cyclopaedia,  voL  iii.  p.  62. 


170  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

Herr  Trau,  of  Vienna,  which  is  in  the  form  of  a  bust  of 
the  Emperor  Titus ;  the  core  is  made  of  lead,  but  it  is 
thinly  plated  with  bronze.  A  bronze  ring  is  fastened  to 
the  head.1 

A  bust  of  a  Bacchante  formed  of  lead  cased  in  bronze 
was  found  near  Southampton,  England.  It  is  evidently  of 
Eoman  manufacture  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
weight  of  a  steelyard,  as  it  weighs  exactly  eighty-three 
ounces,  or  eight  Roman  pounds.  The  eyes  are  of  silver, 
the  lips  and  nipples  are  of  copper.2  Leaden  weights  of 
one,  two,  and  three  ounces  have  been  found  in  England 
near  old  Roman  stations.  It  has  been  suggested  that  they 
were  used  in  assaying  the  argentiferous  ores. 

Dr.  Birch  has  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  oldest 
known  objects  in  lead  are  probably  the  Archaic  weights  of 
Athens,  of  the  Aeginetian  standard,  which  he  attributes 
to  the  fifth  century  B.  c.3  The  discoveries  of  Schliemann 
at  Hissarlik,  however,  antedate  these  objects  by  many 
centuries.  The  leaden  weights  of  Greece  were  replaced  by 
those  of  stone  or  bronze. 

It  is  the  custom  to-day  with  some  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers, especially  in  Europe,  to  affix  a  leaden  seal  to  the 
cords  or  wire  used  to  surround  and  secure  the  bales  or 
boxes  in  which  merchandise  is  packed,  to  prevent  pilfering 
or  tampering  with  their  productions  during  transportation. 
The  Romans  used  leaden  seals  for  this  purpose,  and  many 
have  been  found,  some  with  the  strings  still  attached.  The 
strings  were  laid  across  the  lead  while  it  was  in  a  molten 
condition ;  it  was  then  stamped  on  one  or  both  sides.  These 
ancient  seals  are  precisely  like  the  leaden  seals,  or  bullse, 
which  were  affixed  to  Papal  deeds.  Leaden  seals  still 
attached  to  the  strings  which  fastened  the  bandages  of  a 
Grecian  mummy  are  preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 

1  Hoffmann,  Das  Blei,  etc.,  p.  27. 

2  Archeeologia,  vol.  32.  3  Birch,  Introduction  to  "  Salamina." 


THE  USES  OF   LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  171 

The  Roman  seals  discovered  in  England  have  generally 
been  found  on  the  sites  of  Eoman  camps,  and  appear  to 
have  been  used  by  the  troops.  It  is  said  that  under  certain 
circumstances  leaden  seals  were  affixed  to  the  necks  of 
Roman  soldiers,  upon  entering  the  military  service.1 
Casts  of  a  leaden  seal  which  was  supposed  to  have  been  the 
seal  of  Coenwef,  king  of  Mercia,  who  reigned  about  the 
year  800,  were  exhibited  to  the  Archaeological  Society  of 
England  in  1847.  It  had  probably  been  attached  to  some 
instrument  in  the  manner  of  the  seals  appended  to  Papal 
bulls.2 

The  attachment  of  leaden  seals  to  packages  of  mer- 
chandise at  Custom  Houses  in  modern  times  is  a  survival 
of  methods  practised  by  the  Romans.  During  Roman 
occupation  of  Gaul  merchandise  for  distribution  in  the 
country  was  not  examined,  but  that  destined  for  transpor- 
tation beyond  the  frontier  was  sealed  with  a  leaden  seal ; 
and  it  is  supposed  that  the  leaden  seals  found  in  the  Saone 
bearing  the  number  of  a  legion,  the  name  of  a  merchant, 
or  of  a  city  or  a  town,  were  of  this  character.3 

Leaden  seals  have  been  found  inscribed  with  letters  or 
numbers.  These  were  probably  used  to  affix  to  boxes,  bales, 
or  perhaps  to  amphorce,  possibly  to  indicate  the  quality 
and  quantity  of  the  contents.  They  were  generally  square, 
and  many  were  pierced  with  holes  that  they  might  be  more 
readily  nailed  or  tied  to  the  package  they  were  intended 
to  designate.  Another  form  preserved  in  the  museum  at 
Athens  bears  Greek  inscriptions  and  monograms,  and  con- 
sists of  two  small  round  disks  of  lead  connected  by  a  small 
strip.  On  one  of  the  disks  is  a  small  projection  which  fits 
into  a  corresponding  depression  on  the  other.  When  the 

1  C.  Roach  Smith,  Collectanea  Antiqua  vol.  iii. 

2  Archeeologia,  vol.  xxxii. 

3  Bapst  thinks  that  objects  of  this  nature  dredged  from  the  Sambre  were 
merchants'  marks.     Bapst,  L'Etain,  p.  186.     See  also  Pigeonneau,  Histoire  du 
Commerce  de  la  France,  vol.  i.  p.  43. 


172  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

disks  were  pressed  together  they  became  permanently  fast- 
ened or  locked.  These  medals  or  seals  are  thought  to  have 
been  used  by  the  clothmakers  to  mark  the  quantity  con- 
tained in  their  bales.1  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  of  Eng- 
land the  clothmakers  were  obliged  by  statute  to  use  leaden 
seals  to  mark  the  length  and  quality  of  their  manufactures.2 
Lead  was  also  used  for  seals  to  verify  instruments  of  writing 
instead  of  a  signature.  This  custom  prevailed  not  only  for 
public  documents,  but  also  for  private  agreements  and  con- 
tracts. A  merchant's  seal  affixed  to  a  document  had  all 
the  effect  of  a  signature.  Dr.  Birch  says :  "  The  last 
appearance  of  lead  in  ancient  art  is  in  the  bullse  or  seals 
inscribed  with  monograms  of  the  Byzantine  empire,  as  late 
as  or  later  than  the  fifth  century."  3 

The  Greeks  and  Komans  used  leaden  medals  and  tokens 
in  great  numbers.  The  Greek  tokens  date  after  the  con- 
quest by  Rome.  The  purpose  of  these  tokens  has  not 
been  definitely  established.  Some  archaeologists  are  of 
the  opinion  that  they  were  issued  by  the  collegia,  or  guilds, 
and  were  used  as  badges  of  membership,  their  display 
giving  to  the  wearer  certain  rights  and  privileges  not 
otherwise  attainable.  Most  of  the  tokens,  tesserce,  which 
have  been  found  bear  emblems  which  indicate  some  play 
or  game  at  the  amphitheatre,  —  crowned  heroes,  the  trum- 
peter who  gives  the  signal  to  begin  the  fight,  representations 
of  horses  and  chariots,  pictures  of  gladiators,  or  of  their 
helmets,  or  their  laurel  wreaths;  deer,  bulls,  lions,  bears, 
and  other  animals  which  fought  or  were  slain  in  the  am- 
phitheatre. Masks,  symbols  of  the  play,  are  represented; 
sometimes  the  play  itself  is  pictured.  Others  bore  tri- 
umphal processions,  or  apotheoses  of  emperors,  indicated 

1  Hoffmann,  Das  Blei,  etc.,  p.  37. 

2  J.  H.  Burn,  Descriptive   Catalogue  of  London  Traders,  Tavern  and  Coffee 
House  Tokens  of  Seventeenth  Century  (London,  1855),  p.  157. 

8  Salamina,  introduction  by  Dr.  Birch. 


THE  USES  OF  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  173 

by  Mercury,  or  by  some  genius  with  a  blazing  torch,  or  an 
eagle  crowned  with  a  cypress  wreath.  Some  of  these  tes- 
serce  have  triumphal  celebrations  pictured,  in  which  case, 
suggests  Hoffmann,  they  were  possibly  used  to  commemo- 
rate an  important  event.  Some  had  pictures  of  emperors, 
and  may  have  been  used  as  invitations  to  the  celebration ; 
others  bore  short  inscriptions  to  commemorate  religious 
feasts  and  other  gatherings.  These  tokens  or  medals  were 
generally  flat  and  circular  in  form,  and  the  inscriptions 
were  mostly  on  one  side  only,  and  were  crudely  fashioned. 
Sometimes,  however,  those  having  heads  only  were  care- 
fully made,  and  were  inscribed  on  both  sides.  A  few  were 
stamped,  but  generally  they  were  cast  in  a  mould. 

During  the  last  century  a  leaden  medal,  stamped  on  both 
sides  like  a  coin,  was  found  inserted  in  a  little  excavation, 
evidently  made  for  it,  in  the  plinth  of  a  large  granite 
column  near  the  forum  at  Home.  It  was  placed  in  the 
excavation  before  the  column,  which  entirely  covered  and 
concealed  it,  was  raised  into  position.  Similar  leaden 
medals  have  been  found  under  other  columns  in  Italy. 
When  the  designs  upon  these  medals  represented  an  em- 
peror's head  it  is  supposed  that  they  indicated  that  the 
marble  was  to  pass  free  of  duty,  or  that  it  was  to  be  used 
in  the  erection  of  an  imperial  building.  Hoffmann  quotes 
the  story  of  a  certain  mason  at  Rome  who  was  allowed  in 
the  last  century  to  take  a  large  fragment  of  yellow  marble 
from  the  famous  villa  of  Hadrian.  Upon  examining  the 
stone,  after  it  had  been  deposited  at  his  house,  he  observed 
a  small  piece  which  seemed  to  be  loose ;  upon  lifting  it  he 
found  it  had  been  fastened  to  the  block  with  cement, 
and  that  it  covered  a  little  excavation  in  the  marble  in 
which  reposed  a  leaden  medal  bearing  a  representation 
of  the  head  of  Hadrian,  and  an  inscription  which  was 
partly  defaced.1 

1  See  Hoffmann,  Das  Blei,  etc.,  p.  36. 


174  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

An  account  of  the  employment  of  lead  by  the  an- 
cients would  be  incomplete  if  we  did  not  include  its  use 
in  medicine.  The  Egyptians  used  it  for  this  purpose,  and 
Hippocrates,  Galen,  and  Dioscorides  treat  of  it.  It  was 
considered  to  be  cold  and  moist,  and  cooling  properties 
were  attributed  to  it.  It  was  thought  to  have  much  in  its 
nature  which  was  solidified  by  cold,  hence  its  rapid  lique- 
fying when  subjected  to  heat.  "  If  we  rub  a  fluid  in  a 
leaden  mortar  with  a  leaden  pestle  it  will  become  cooler," 
Galen  says,  "because  a  kind  of  juice  comes  out  of  the  lead 
which  causes  the  coolness."  Lead  acetate  is  considered  to 
be  cooling  in  its  nature  to-day,  and  a  solution  of  it  is  used 
as  a  soothing  and  cooling  lotion.  Salves  and  plasters  were 
thought  by  the  ancients  to  be  more  efficacious  if  made 
in  leaden  vessels.  Lead  was  believed  either  to  impart 
certain  mystic  properties  to  the  salve  or  to  bring  some- 
thing out  of  the  ingredients,  which  under  other  circum- 
stances would  remain  latent.  Metallic  lead  was  used  after 
surgical  operations  to  keep  the  wound  from  closing  too 
quickly.1  Pliny  mentions  many  curious  remedies  derived 
from  lead.  "It  is  used,"  he  says,  "without  any  addition 
in  medicine  for  the  removal  of  scars  ;  and  prepared  as 
a  liniment,  or  an  ingredient  in  plasters,  for  ulcers,  and  for 
the  eyes,  etc."  2  Paracelsus  boasted  that  he  could  cure  two 
hundred  different  diseases  with  lead.  The  most  extraor- 
dinary use  to  which  the  metal  was  put  in  Pliny's  time, 
perhaps,  is  that  described  by  him  as  follows :  "The  Emperor 
Nero,  for  so  the  gods  willed  it,  could  never  sing  to  the 
whole  pitch  of  his  voice  unless  he  had  a  plate  of  lead  upon 
his  chest,  —  thus,"  says  Pliny,  "showing  us  one  method  of 
preserving  the  voice."  3 

1  Hoffmann,  Das  Blei,  etc.,  p.  42. 

2  Pliny,  Natural  History,  Look  xxxiv.  chap.  1.  3  Ibid. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

LEAD   IN   THE    MIDDLE   AGES. 

r  I  ^HE  disturbed  condition  of  Europe  during  the  cen- 
X  turies  immediately  following  the  fall  of  Rome,  al- 
most entirely  prevented  mining  operations,  and  the  supply 
of  metals  became  nearly  exhausted.  Lead,  being  more 
widely  distributed  and  more  easily  procured  from  its  ores 
than  other  metals,  was,  upon  the  approach  of  a  more  peace- 
ful condition  of  society,  made  to  serve  purposes  for  which 
it  is  not  altogether  suitable,  and  for  which  it  has  been 
superseded  in  our  own  times  by  other  metals. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  use  of  lead  as  money  in 
very  ancient  times,  and  of  the  presence  of  lead  in  notable 
quantities  in  the  early  Greek  and  Roman  coinage.  About 
the  beginning  of  our  era  lead  almost  entirely  disappeared 
from  the  coinage  of  Greece  and  Rome ;  the  small  percent- 
age found  in  coins  of  this  period  is  probably  due  to  the 
inability  of  the  ancient  metallurgist  to  secure  a  greater 
degree  of  purity  in  the  noble  metals.  Lead  reappears 
upon  occasions  in  the  coinage  of  the  middle  ages  ;  several 
pieces  of  leaden  money  of  this  period  are  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum.  Counterfeit  English  money,  made  of 
lead  and  cased  with  silver,  was  coined  in  France  in  the 
thirteenth  century.1  James  II.  authorized  the  coinage  of 

1  Macpherson,  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  i.  pp.  451,  463.  During  the  latter 
part  of  the  thirteenth  century  England  was  flooded  with  counterfeit  money,  and 
orders  were  issued  to  the  coast-guard  officers  to  prevent  its  importation  from 


176  A  HISTORY  OF   LEAD. 

tin,  bronze,  and  pewter  money,  and  it  is  said,  of  leaden 
money  also.  Erasmus  mentions  the  currency  of  leaden 
money  in  England  in  his  day,  but  these  statements  refer 
perhaps  to  the  tradesmen's  tokens,  which  will  be  noticed 
hereafter.  Pieces  of  leaden  money  of  the  tenth  or  twelfth 
century  have  been  found  in  France,  but  Bapst  thinks  they 
were  used  only  as  monnaies  d?  appoint,  odd  money,  some- 
thing thrown  in  to  make  a  good  bargain.1  In  exceptional 
cases  —  in  times  of  war,  or  in  a  beleaguered  city  —  the  au- 
thorities have  coined  money  of  base  metals,  and  occasion- 
ally certain  persons  have  been  privileged  to  do  so ;  but 
these  instances  are  rare,  and  the  amount  so  coined  and 
circulated  has  been  inconsiderable.  During  the  siege  of 
Oudenarde,  in  1582,  pewter  money  was  struck ;  and  the 
canoness  of  Mauberge  had  the  privilege  of  coining  leaden 
money  bearing  the  effigy  of  Saint  Aldegonde.2 

Medals  or  tokens  dating  from  the  eleventh  to  the 
fifteenth  centuries  have  been  found  in  great  numbers 
in  dredging  and  excavating  in  the  beds  of  streams  in 
France,  in  England,  and  in  other  European  countries. 
These  tokens  generally  bear  some  figure  or  device ;  they 
are  usually  without  inscription,  and  have  the  appearance 
of  coins,  and  may  have  served  as  money  in  exceptional 
cases.  They  are  sometimes  of  tin  or  copper.  In  the  time 
of  John  the  Good,  of  France,  they  were  made  of  leather, 
but  they  are  generally  of  lead,  and  were  made  by  casting 
in  a  mould.3  Some  were  of  a  religious  character,  and 
were  sold  at  shrines  and  at  celebrated  churches,  as  they 

foreign  countries.  The  measures  taken  were  ineffectual,  and  the  matter  became 
so  serious  that  the  circulation  of  foreign  money  was  forbidden,  and  all  strangers 
coming  into  the  country  were  obliged  upon  landing  to  exhibit  their  money  for 
its  examination  by  officers  appointed  for  that  purpose  and  stationed  at  the 
principal  seaports.  In  1299  all  importers  of  counterfeit  money  were  ordered  to 
be  put  to  death. 

1  Bapst,  L'^tain,  p.  178. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  180. 

8  Rigollot,  Monnaies  Inconnues,  etc.,  quoted  by  Bapst,  L'litain,  p.  179. 


LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE   AGES.  177 

are  to-day ;  some  were  issued  by  craftsmen  and  others, 
and  bore  their  insignia  ;  and  some,  in  obedience  to  a  cus- 
tom which  has  persisted  from  very  early  times,  were  per- 
haps cast  in  honor  of  a  great  victory,  to  commemorate  an 
important  event  or  the  presence  of  a  distinguished  individ- 
ual, or  for  a  political  or  other  rallying  sign. 

M.  Arthur  Forgeais  published,  in  1862-66,  a  work 
describing  and  illustrating  medals,  tokens,  and  other  arti- 
cles of  the  same  character  found  in  dredging  in  the  Seine, 
at  Paris.  M.  Forgeais  accounts  for  the  presence  of  so 
large  a  number  of  these  interesting  objects  in  the  bed  of 
this  stream  by  the  fact  that,  in  ancient  tunes,  the  houses 
of  the  inhabitants  were  generally  built  directly  upon  the 
banks  of  the  river,  and  that  the  bridges  were  lined  with 
houses  occupied  by  artisans  and  shopkeepers.  The  early 
bridges  were  built  of  wood,  and  were  repeatedly  destroyed 
by  fire,  ice,  and  flood,  and  the  houses  lining  their  sides 
shared,  with  their  contents,  the  same  fate.  Objects  of 
metal  thrown  into  the  river  by  these  accidents  would  sink 
to  the  bottom  and  be  preserved,  while  those  of  perishable 
material  would  be  destroyed.  These  leaden  antiquities 
have  been  found  in  greatest  abundance  in  Paris  near  the 
Quai  Notre  Dame,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  shops  and  stalls 
of  the  principal  artisans  and  toy-sellers  of  the  time,  and  of 
the  principal  seat  of  the  manufacture  of  these  wares.  It 
has  been  suggested  also  that  the  presence  of  these  objects 
in  the  bed  of  the  Seine,  and  of  other  rivers,  may  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  persistence  to  a  comparatively  late  date 
of  the  ancient  custom  of  throwing  coins  or  money  into  the 
streams. 

The  Corporations  or  Trade  Guilds  of  Paris  were  estab- 
lished at  a  very  early  period.1 

1  These  corporations  were  the  legitimate  successors  of  similar  societies  of 
the  Gauls  under  Roman  rule,  which  were  modifications  of  the  societies,  called 
Collegia,  of  the  Romans,  which  in  turn  perhaps  had  their  origin  in  the  associ- 

12 


178  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

The  corporation  of  the  Patissiers  of  Paris  existed  as  early 
as  1060,  the  Plombiers-Couvreurs  were  incorporated  earlier 
than  1648,  as  at  that  time  laws  existed  under  which  they 
could  qualify  as  Maitres  Plombiers-Fontainiers.  Their 
work  was  always  stamped  with  the  first  two  letters  of  the 
name  of  the  master  plumber  under  whose  supervision  it 
was  executed.  The  apprenticeship  lasted  six  years;  the 
cost  of  a  membership  was  sixty  livres,  that  of  a  master- 
ship one  thousand  five  hundred.1 

In  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  centuries 
medals  and  tokens  were  issued  in  great  numbers  by  the 
trade  guilds  of  Paris.  These  tokens  were  generally  of  lead, 
were  circular  in  form,  and  were  made  by  casting  in  a  mould 
of  slate,  many  of  which  have  been  found  by  Forgeais  in  the 
Seme,  at  Paris.  The  tokens  were  probably  used  for  various 
purposes ;  in  some  cases  they  were  given  to  a  member  upon 
his  admission  to  a  guild,  as  a  sign  of  his  enrolment ;  in 

ations  of  the  Greeks  called  Eranio  or  Thiasoi,  which  flourished  in  the  third  cen- 
tury B.  c.,  notably  at  Rhodes.  The  Grecian  societies  were  more  nearly  like  the 
craft  guilds  in  the  middle  ages  than  the  Roman  Collegia,  as  their  members  con- 
tributed to  a  general  fund,  aided  one  another  in  distress,  provided  for  funerals, 
and  met  in  assembly  to  deliberate  upon  their  affairs.  Violations  of  their  rules 
were  punished  by  fines,  and  he  who  failed  to  pay  his  dues  was  expelled.  The 
watermen  of  the  Rhone,  Saone,  and  of  other  rivers  in  Gaul  had  their  societies, 
called  Collegia.  The  remains  of  an  altar,  erected  by  the  watermen  of  the  Seine, 
was  found  under  the  choir  of  Notre  Dame  in  1711.  Tradesmen  and  shopkeepers 
formed  similar  societies,  which  were  succeeded  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  cen- 
turies by  the  trade  corporations,  some  of  which  exist  to-day.  These  corporations 
were  very  powerful  in  the  thirteenth  and  following  centuries.  The  members  of 
a  craft  were  generally  grouped  together,  sometimes  occupying  one  street,  to 
which  they  gave  the  name.  They  had  their  rules  and  regulations  defining  the 
rights  and  duties  of  masters,  craftsmen,  and  apprentices,  their  committees  to  de- 
fend their  privileges,  and  halls  or  places  of  meeting.  Members  had  the  assur- 
ance of  assistance  in  distress,  the  dead  were  buried,  prayers  offered  for  the 
repose  of  their  souls,  and  the  orphans,  the  old,  and  the  infirm  were  cared  for 
and  protected. 

See  H.  Pigeonneau,  Histoire  du  Commerce  de  la  France,  premiere  part, 
pp.  123,  234. 

1  Arthur  Forgeais,  Collection  de  Plombs  Histories  trouvees  dans  la  Seine, 
etc.  (Paris,  1862-66),  premiere  serie,  p.  105. 


LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  179 

others,  perhaps,  as  an  evidence  of  membership,  to  secure  cer- 
tain privileges  pertaining  only  to  a  member.  The  tokens 
generally  bore  on  the  obverse  side  a  representation  of  the 
patron  saint  of  the  guild,  or  of  his  insignia,  and  upon  the 
reverse  the  tools  appertaining  to  the  craft.  The  religious 
aspect  is  rarely  or  never  found  wanting,  and  frequently  ap- 
pears upon  both  sides.1  The  leaden  token  of  the  Paris 
plumber  is  described  by  Forgeais,  from  a  seventeenth-cen- 
tury specimen  found  in  1859  in  the  Seine,  as  follows  :  "On 
the  obverse  side  appears  the  Holy  Trinity,  —  God  the 
Father,  supporting  the  arms  of  the  cross  which  bears  the 
body  of  Christ,  and  the  Holy  Dove,  which  is  seen  escaping 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Father.  On  the  reverse,  the  tools 
of  the  craft :  a  soldering-iron,  a  hatchet  with  a  pointed 
head,  and  an  ingot  or  pig  of  lead."  2  The  prevalence  of 
the  custom  of  circulating  tradesmen's  tokens  in  France  in 
the  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  centuries  is  indi- 
cated by  the  discovery  by  Forgeais  in  the  Seine  at  Paris  of 
medals  representing  no  less  than  fifty  tradesmen's  and  me- 
chanic's guilds.  Nearly  all  the  mechanic  arts  are  repre- 
sented, together  with  the  booksellers,  the  wine-merchants, 
fish-dealers,  and  other  shop-keepers. 

Under  the  head  of  medals  and  tokens  Bapst  classes  the 
leaden  imitation  money,  monnaies  des  innocents,  thrown 
among  the  people  at  the  fetes,  and  he  suggests  that  the 
tokens  found  by  Forgeais  decorated  with  a  single  letter  in 
relief,  and  for  the  use  or  purpose  of  which  Forgeais  ac- 
knowledges he  can  find  no  clue,  were  possibly  children's 
playthings,  and  served  to  teach  them  to  read,3  like  the  box 
of  blocks  used  for  similar  purposes  to-day. 

It  is  possible  to  assign  some  use  for  most  of  the  tokens 
found  in  England  and  France,  but  in  some  cases  it  is 

1  See  Bapst,  L'^tain  ;  also  Forgeais,  Collection  de  Plombs,  etc. 

2  Forgeais,  Collection  de  Plombs,  etc.,  premiere  serie,  p.  105. 
8  Bapst,  L'Etoin,  pp.  182,  184. 


180  A   HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

utterly  impossible  to  conjecture  for  what  purpose  they 
were  circulated.  This  is  especially  true  of  large  numbers 
which  bear  reproductions  of  erotic  designs ;  sometimes  it  is 
a  phallus,  and  more  frequently  the  external  female  geni- 
talia.  These  have  been  dredged  in  great  numbers,  espe- 
cially the  latter,  from  the  bed  of  the  Seine  at  Paris ;  and 
with  them  many  moulds  of  slate  representing  the  same 
subjects  have  been  found,  in  which  objects  of  this  nature 
have  probably  been  cast.  Forgeais  is  unable  to  offer  a 
wholly  satisfactory  suggestion  as  to  the  purpose  of  these 
medals,  and  laments  that  there  exists  no  explanation  or 
even  reference  to  them  in  the  literature  of  the  period 
when  they  existed  in  great  numbers  ;  for  it  is  a  curious 
fact  that  although  very  many  have  been  found,  no  two 
are  alike,  and  as  one  mould  would  serve  for  casting  many 
specimens,  the  number  in  use  must  have  been  enormous. 
These  erotic  medals  were  frequently  provided  with  a  pin 
at  the  back,  to  enable  the  owner  to  wear  it  as  a  brooch ; 
others  have  a  ring  at  the  top,  and  could  be  suspended  by  a 
string  from  the  neck  ;  the  larger  number,  however,  of 
those  represented  in  Forgeais's  illustrations  were  unprovided 
with  these  accessories.  Those  found  by  Forgeais  are  attrib- 
uted by  him  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  or  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  centuries.1  Emblems  of  this  character  were 
worn  in  ancient  times  as  amulets  or  charms ;  Pennant 
found  near  Flint,  in  Wales,  an  amulet  of  lead  in  the  shape 
of  a  heart,  upon  which  erotic  designs  were  displayed.  He 
considered  it  to  be  of  undoubted  Roman  origin.2  The  cus- 
tom of  wearing  charms  as  a  protection  against  sickness, 
malignant  demons,  and  the  evil  eye,  has  persisted  from  a 
remote  antiquity.  The  scarabaeus  of  the  Egyptians  was  an 
amulet  and  in  the  Atharva  Veda  lead  is  mentioned  as  being 
used  as  a  charm  against  the  evil  eye.  Amulets  of  erotic  de- 

1  Forgeais,  Collection  de  Plombs,  etc.,  extra  series ;  also  Bapst,  L'^tain,  p.  184. 

2  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  voL  i.  p.  73. 


LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE   AGES.  181 

sign  were  worn  in  the  ninth  century  as  a  protection  against 
evil  spirits,  and  it  is  said  that  in  Italy  they  are  hung  upon 
the  necks  of  infants  to-day  to  protect  them  from  the  baleful 
effects  of  the  evil  eye.  Forgeais  suggests  that  the  erotic 
medals  found  in  the  Seine  may  have  been  used  as  charms 
or  amulets  of  this  character.1  The  creative  powers  of 
nature  have  been  worshipped  in  many  countries,  and  it 
has  been  suggested  that  these  tokens  may  show  the  per- 
sistence of  some  ancient  rite  or  custom  connected,  perhaps, 
with  phallic  worship.  These  erotic  medals  ceased  to  be 
used  after  the  fifteenth  century. 

In  the  time  of  the  Crusades  it  was  the  custom  for  the 
crusader  and  the  pilgrim  to  the  Holy  Land  to  gather  a 
shell  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  to  fasten  it 
to  his  cloak  as  an  ornament,  and  as  an  evidence  of  his 
pilgrimage.  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  is  said  to  have  been  so 
decorated  when  he  stormed  the  citadel  of  Jerusalem.  This 
custom  soon  became  general,  and  the  escalop  shell  was 
adopted  as  the  badge  of  several  orders  of  knighthood,  and 
of  pilgrims  to  all  holy  shrines,  and  it  is  found  in  the 
armorial  bearings  of  many  old  English  families.  The 
natural  shell  was  soon  replaced  by  a  leaden  reproduction, 
which  in  its  turn  was  superseded  by  little  leaden  images 
of  saints,  which  were  often  accompanied  by  a  formula  or 
legend 

The  earliest  written  mention  of  these  badges,  according 
to  Bapst,  was  in  1183,  when  the  sign  consisted  of  an 
image  of  the  Virgin.2  After  this  time  the  use  of  these 
badges  increased  rapidly ;  they  were  produced  in  great 
numbers,  and  were  sold  by  the  attendants  at  shrines  in 
every  Christian  country.  Every  saint  in  the  calendar  was 
honored  by  the  reproduction  of  his  figure  or  his  attributes 
on  a  leaden  medal.  The  dress  of  the  saint  varied  from 

1  Forgeais,  Collection  de  Plombs,  etc.,  extra  series. 

2  Bapst,  L'^tain,  p.  188. 


182  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

time  to  time  as  the  fashions  of  the  period  changed.  Each 
country  had  its  favorite  saint.  In  England,  during  the 
Crusades,  Saint  Thomas  a  Becket,  of  Canterbury,  was 
most  venerated,  and  many  signs  bearing  his  effigy  have 
been  found  in  England.  In  the  north  of  France  Saint 
Denis  was  the  patron  saint  until  the  accession  of  the 
Valois  to  the  throne,  when  Saint  Michel  replaced  him. 
In  other  parts  of  France  Saint  Nicholas  is  represented  on 
the  signs.  Saint  John  the  Baptist  was  also  frequently 
honored  in  this  manner,  especially  in  England. 

These  images  were  sometimes  made  of  tin  or  pewter, 
but  they  were  generally  of  lead.  Forgeais  describes  and 
illustrates  with  minute  detail  very  many  pilgrim  signs 
found  in  the  Seine,  representing  many  shrines,  and  dating 
from  the  thirteenth  to  the  sixteenth  centuries ;  each  was 
provided  with  a  hook  at  the  back  to  enable  the  wearer  to 
fasten  it  to  his  garment.  They  were  evidently  preserved 
with  great  care,  and  were  generally  worn  as  evidence  of 
a  visit  to  a  holy  shrine,  though  in  the  disturbed  condi- 
tion of  society  in  the  middle  ages  it  is  probable  they 
also  served  as  a  passport  or  safe  conduct  to  the  wearer.1 
It  was  also  customary  to  wear  them  in  the  hat.  Louis 
XL  wore  a  number  of  these  leaden  images  affixed  to  his 
hat,  and  upon  occasions  of  great  moment  took  it  off, 
knelt  before  it,  and  prayed  for  the  intercession  of  the 
saints  whose  effigies  were  represented  by  these  leaden 
figures. 

The  manufacture  and  sale  of  these  pilgrim  signs  were 
monopolized  for  many  years  by  the  monks  and  sacristans 
of  churches  and  shrines,  who  found  it  a  fruitful  source  of 


revenue.2 


In  addition  to  the  pilgrim  signs  and  tokens  dredged  by 

1  Forgeais,  Collection  de  Ploinbs,  etc.,  troisieme  serie,  p.  6. 

2  In  ancient  times  silver  tokens  were  sold  at  the  Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus 
to  the  worshippers,  who  preserved  them  as  a  souvenir  of  their  pilgrimage. 


LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE   AGES.  183 

Forgeais  from  the  Seine,  he  found  medals  and  tokens  of 
other  kinds,  which  he  illustrates  and  describes  in  his 
sumptuous  work,  —  ecclesiastical  medals,  which  bear  in- 
scriptions relating  to  the  service  of  the  church ;  ampulse 
intended  to  represent  the  sacred  vessel  which  holds  the 
chrism  ;  medals  bearing  representations  of  shields,  carrying 
frequently  the  escutcheon  of  France.  These  specimens  it 
is  thought  were  used  as  tickets  of  admission  to  royal  en- 
tertainments or  to  the  palace.  Others  bear  the  arms 
of  Navarre,  Champagne,  or  of  other  districts,  or  of  noble 
families,  and  were  possibly  used  as  jetons  to  throw  to  the 
people  on  festal  or  on  other  occasions,  or  were  used  to 
give  safe  conduct  or  admission  to  the  apartments,  or  to 
the  presence  of  the  individual  whose  arms  are  depicted' on 
the  medal.  Other  medals  illustrated  by  Forgeais  were 
issued  by  tradesmen,  and  were  used  as  tokens  when  small 
change  was  scarce ;  some  perhaps  served  as  checks  to 
mark  the  days  or  hours  of  work  performed  by  laborers. 
Forgeais  illustrates  a  type  of  medal  bearing  a  representa- 
tion of  a  human  head,  sometimes  grotesque,  but  he  omits 
to  give  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  use  of  these 
curious  objects.  Other  medals  were  used  perhaps  as  a 
warrant  to  keep  a  stall  in  the  market,  or  a  toll-gate,  as 
evidence  of  permission  to  ask  alms,  or  to  receive  from  the 
poor  fund  a  small  sum  of  money,  or  its  equivalent  in  food, 
like  the  modern  "  soup-ticket."  Examples  are  mentioned 
bearing  the  insignia  of  officers  of  the  king's  or  the  queen's 
household ;  others  were  used  as  rallying-signs,  and  for- 
cibly remind  one  of  the  medals  circulated  during  the 
period  immediately  preceding  a  presidential  election.  Some 
were  made  in  imitation  of  the  currency  of  the  period; 
others  bore  representations  of  crucifixes,  animals,  flowers, 
and  other  objects  in  great  numbers  and  in  great  variety. 
Forgeais  found  with  these  medals  many  examples  of  the 
moulds  in  which  they  had  been  cast.  They  were  usually 


184  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

made  of  slate  or  of  other  hard  stone,  were  generally  well 
executed,  and  arranged  to  be  held  firmly  in  position 
during  the  operation  of  casting  by  a  dowel-pin.1 

Previous  to  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  all  associations  of 
craftsmen  which  existed  in  England  were  simply  licensed, 
but  during  this  reign  (1327-77)  a  law  was  enacted  pro- 
viding that  "  all  artificers  and  people  of  mysteries  should 
each  choose  his  own  mystery  before  the  next  Candlemas 
Day,  and  that  having  chosen  his  mystery  he  should  hence- 
forth practise  or  use  no  other."  Some  of  the  guilds  were 
now  incorporated,  and  soon  proved  to  be  powerful  factors 
in  public  affairs.  At  one  time  no  less  than  forty-eight 
corporations  sent  members  to  the  common  council  of 
London.2  Their  rules  for  the  preservation  of  the  secrets 
of  the  craft  were  very  precise  and  were  rigidly  enforced. 
Members  were  enjoined  not  to  go  abroad  to  teach  the 
mystery  of  their  craft,  nor  to  take  as  an  apprentice  the 
son  of  an  alien.3 

The  Plumbers  Company  of  London  existed  as  an  asso- 
ciation for  very  many  years  before  its  formal  incorpora- 
tion, which  occurred  in  the  ninth  year  of  James  I.  (April 
12,  1611).  The  earliest  mention  in  England  of  the  term 
"plumber"  noticed  occurs  in  a  memorandum  of  the  cost 
of  a  new  font  at  East  Deereham,  Norfolk,  dated  1468,  in 
which  is  found  the  following  item :  "  Paid  William,  the 
plumber,  for  leading  the  new  font,  2s  6d." 

In  the  act  of  incorporation  the  company  is  styled  "  The 
Master,  Wardens,  and  Commonalty  of  the  Mysteries  of 
Plumbers  of  the  city  of  London."  They  adopted  a  coat- 
of-arms,  which  is  described  as  follows  :  "  On  a  chevron 

1  See  Forgeais,  Collection  de  Plombs,  etc.,  cinquieme  serie. 

2  Charles  Knight  (London),  vol.  v.  pp.  125-127. 

8  Win.  Maitland,  F.R.S.,  The  History  of  London  from  the  Foundation  by  the 
Romans  to  the  Present  Time  (London,  1739),  p.  699.  The  ancient  Egyptian 
artificers  were  prohibited  from  following  any  other  trade  than  their  own,  and 
could  take  as  apprentices  only  their  own  sons. 


LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE   AGES.  185 

between,  in  chief  two  plummets,  and  in  base  a  level  re- 
versed, two  soldering-irons  in  saltire  between  a  cutting 
knife  on  the  dexter  and  a  share-hook  on  the  sinister,  in 
chief  a  cross-staff  fessewise,"  with  the  motto,  "  In  God  is 
all  our  hope." 

In  the  year  1619,  or  thereabouts,  the  Company  of 
Plumbers  petitioned  to  the  king,  alleging  that  "  there  was 
great  deceit  and  falsifying  in  the  casting  and  making  of 
pigs  and  sows  of  lead,  by  putting  in  lumps  of  cinders, 
dross,  and  other  scum,  to  the  great  loss  and  hindrance, 
and  to  the  disgrace  of  the  commodity  beyond  seas,"  and 
praying  that  an  officer  be  appointed  "  to  attend  at  the 
smelting-houses,  and  seal  the  same,  to  discover  the  good 
from  the  bad."  Notwithstanding  a  furious  opposition,  the 
Plumbers  had  sufficient  influence  to  secure  the  appoint- 
ment of  an  inspector  for  a  period  of  thirty-one  years,  who 
was  allowed,  as  fees,  2d.  per  hundred  weight.  The  incum- 
bent resigned  after  a  year  or  two,  and  his  successor  was 
never  appointed.2 

The  plumbers  were  a  flourishing  corporation  for  many 
years,  and  built  a  small  but  neat  building  called  "  Plumb- 
ers Hall "  in  a  place  formerly  called  "  Chequer  Yard."  In 
1770  an  historian  of  London  informs  us  it  was  used  as  a 
dancing-school.3 

The  painters'  corporation  existed  as  a  fraternity  in  the 
time  of  Edward  III.,  but  their  first  charter  was  granted 
by  Edward  IV.,  in  1470.  In  this  charter  they  are  styled 
"  Peyntours."  They  were  afterwards  called  "  Painters- 
Stainers,"  and  under  this  name  were  incorporated  by  Eliza- 
beth, July  19,  1582.  At  this  time  the  Painters-Stainers 
"were  charged  with  the  setting  forth  of  twelve  soldiers 

1  Maitland,  History  of  London,  p.  609. 

2  Analytical  Index  to  the  Series  of  Records  known  as  "  The  Remembrancia," 
preserved  among  the  archives  of  the  city  of  London.     Privately  printed  for  the 
city  of  London,  1878. 

8  Noorthoack,  History  of  London  (London,  1773),  p.  613. 


186  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

with  all  their  furniture."1  The  name  Painters-Stainers 
arose  from  the  fact  that  at  that  time  a  picture  painted 
upon  canvas  was  styled  "  a  stained  cloth/'  as  one  on  a  panel 
of  wood  —  which  was  the  usual  foundation  for  a  picture  in 
early  times  —  was  called  a  "table,"  —  possibly,  it  has  been 
suggested,  from  the  French  word  tableau.  In  the  inven- 
tory of  pictures  of  Henry  VIII.  appears  the  following: 
"Item:  one  table,  with  the  picture  of  the  Duchess  of 
Milan,  being  her  whole  stature.  Item  :  one  cloth  stained, 
with  Phebus  rideing  with  his  cart  in  the  air,  with  the 
history  of  him."  2 

In  the  list  of  corporations  the  Painters-Stainers  were 
No.  28  in  precedence,  and  they  soon  became  rich  and 
powerful.  They  built  a  hall  on  the  west  side  of  Trinity 
Lane,  and  adorned  it  with  screens  and  arches,  and  deco- 
rated its  walls  with  many  fine  pictures  and  portraits.3 
They  claimed,  Knight  says,  a  supervision  over  the  highest 
branches  of  art,  and  Kneller,  Reynolds,  and  other  great 
English  painters  were  proud  to  be  enrolled  among  the 
members  of  the  guild.4 

The  small  coinage  of  England  in  early  times  was  of 
silver  only ;  consequently  transactions  requiring  very  small 
change  were  carried  on  by  means  of  base  foreign  money 
and  English  leaden  tokens.  In  the  early  part  of  the  middle 
ages  but  few  persons  could  read,  and  merchants,  tradesmen, 
and  artisans  adopted  insignia  to  distinguish  their  shops 
and  their  merchandise.  Taverns  were  also  distinguished 
by  peculiar  signs.  Some  of  the  earlier  of  these  devices 
were  of  a  religious  character ;  later  they  were  of  a  loyal 
or  popular  form.  Tradesmen  and  tavern-keepers  feeling 

1  Walter  Thornbury,  Old  and  New  London  (London,  1881,  6  vols.),  vol.  ii. 
p.  37. 

2  Horace  Walpole,  Anecdotes  of  Painting  in  England  (London,  1876,  3  vols.), 
vol.  i.  p.  63. 

8  Noorthoack,  History  of  London,  p.  613. 
4  Knight,  London,  vol.  v.  p.  127. 


LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  187 

the  need  of  small  money  issued  their  tokens,  which  were  of 
brass,  pewter,  and  frequently  of  lead,  and  bore  as  a  device 
the  sign  adopted  to  distinguish  their  trade,  shop,  or  tavern.1 
In  an  account-book  of  Nicholas  Ball,  marketman,  of  Chud- 
leigh,  Devon,  under  the  head  of  expenses,  appears  the  fol- 
lowing :  "  Item :  P'd  for  a  nyron  with  a  prynt  and  for  lead 
and  for  smytyng  of  my  tokens  iij*." 

The  issuance  of  these  leaden  tokens,  notwithstanding 
their  illegality,  and  that  laws  were  frequently  passed  for- 
bidding their  circulation,  persisted  for  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years.  At  first  their  circulation  was  a  very  great  con- 
venience, but  they  soon  became  a  source  of  trouble  and 
embarrassment ;  for  the  profit  arising  from  the  custom  was 
so  enticing  that  many  cities  and  towns,  in  their  corporate 
capacity,  issued  tokens  made  of  base  metals.  The  cities  of 
Bristol,  Oxford,  and  Worcester  struck  leaden  tokens  for 
currency  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
According  to  Evelyn,  every  tradesman  had  his  leaden 
token.  It  is  estimated  that  at  this  period  the  trades- 
men of  London  alone  issued  leaden  tokens  amounting  to 
as  much  as  £15,000  annually.  While  in  the  catalogues  of 
Burn  and  Boyne  nearly  every  trade  and  craft  is  repre- 
sented in  the  devices  on  the  tokens  described,  and  the  arms 
of  the  trade-guilds  are  constantly  met  with,  the  Plumbers 
and  Painters-Stainers  do  not  appear,  either  in  the  trades- 
men's signs  or  in  the  arms  of  the  corporations  stamped 
upon  the  tokens.  Possibly  in  practice  seveial  crafts  were 
united  in  one  person,  as  they  are  to-day  in  many  cases  in 
England,  where  the  plumber  is  also  house-painter,  gasfitter, 
and  general  decorator. 

In  1609  Sir  Robert  Cotton  urged  the  government  to  issue 
brass  or  copper  small  money,  and  in  1613  the  king,  James 
I.,  granted  to  John,  Baron  Harington,  for  a  considera- 
tion, the  privilege  of  coining  brass  farthings.  The  new 

1  Boyne,  Tokens  Issued  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  etc.,  p.  18. 


188  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

currency  was  soon  counterfeited,  and  in  1633  a  law  was 
enacted  forbidding  the  counterfeiting  of  farthings.1 

In  the  middle  ages  the  costume  required  a  girdle  to 
secure  the  tunic  at  the  waist.  These  girdles  were  fastened 
by  metallic  buckles ;  enormous  buckles  were  also  worn  on 
the  shoes.  The  buckles  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes 
were  generally  of  lead  or  pewter,  but  tradesmen  soon  emu- 
lated their  superiors  and  wore  buckles  made  of  silver.  In 
the  time  of  Edward  III.  a  law  was  enacted  forbidding  the 
wearing  of  silver  buckles  by  tradesmen  and  yeomen.2 

The  custom  of  burying  with  the  dead  domestic  utensils, 
weapons,  food,  and  other  objects  which  it  was  thought 
would  be  useful  to  the  deceased  in  a  future  life,  has  gener- 
ally prevailed  with  primitive  peoples,  and  has  persisted  in 
some  cases  even  after  an  advanced  state  of  civilization  has 
been  reached.  Eeproductions  in  lead  of  domestic  utensils, 
knives,  tripods,  candlesticks,  etc.,  of  too  fragile  a  nature 
for  use,  and  evidently  mere  imitations,  have  been  found  in 
ancient  sepulchres  in  Italy.3 

In  the  early  days  of  the  church  it  was  the  custom  to 
inclose  in  the  coffins  of  the  faithful  reproductions  of  sym- 
bolic objects,  the  originals  being  generally  made  of  more 
precious  metals.  A  leaden  chalice  found  in  a  tomb  and 
preserved  at  Eome  is  ascribed  to  the  third  century.  It  is 
elaborately  ornamented  on  the  circumference  and  in  the 
centre  with  Christian  symbols.  In  the  centre  of  the  disk 
the  sacrifice  of  Abraham  is  represented ;  other  Biblical 
subjects  are  depicted  around  the  circle.  Two  leaden  chal- 

1  See  Burn,  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  London  Traders,  Tavern,  and  Coffee 
House  Tokens,  etc.  ;  also  Boyne,  Tokens  Issued  in  the  Seventeenth  Century, 
etc.     At  a  General  Court  held  in  Newtown  (Cambridge,  Mass.)  brass  farthings 
were  forbidden  to  be  circulated,  and  leaden  bullets  were  made  to  pass  for 
farthings. 

2  C.  Eoach  Smith,  Collectanea  Antiqua,  vol.  i. 

8  The  leaden  objects  preserved  in  the  museums  of  Europe,  representing  in 
miniature  chairs,  tables,  horses,  wheels,  and  other  articles  in  common  use,  were 
perhaps  deposited  in  tombs  in  obedience  to  this  custom. 


LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  189 

ices  preserved  in  the  museum  at  Amiens  are  referred  to  by 
Bapst  as  unique  on  account  of  their  form,  which  differs 
from  that  usual  in  the  middle  ages,  as  well  as  of  the 
material  employed.  The  Abbe  Cochet  found  in  the  sep- 
ulchres one  made  of  lead,  and  one  of  the  same  form  has 
been  discovered  near  the  body  of  a  man  buried  near  Salis- 
bury, England.1  The  Bishop  of  Angiers,  who  died  in  1290, 
was  buried  in  a  rich  coffin  with  a  cross  of  copper  or  tin  by 
his  side,  and  upon  his  breast  was  placed  a  leaden  chalice 
provided  with  a  paten  of  the  same  metal.  In  a  tomb  at 
Fecamp,  of  an  abbot  who  lived  in  the  eleventh  century, 
a  little  leaden  cross  has  been  found,  and  in  the  cabinet  of 
the  present  proprietor  of  the  Abbey  of  Jumieges  there  are 
preserved  three  abbot' s-staffs  made  of  lead  of  the  eleventh 
to  the  thirteenth  centuries,  and  a  leaden  sword-scabbard, 
which  were  found  in  tombs  within  the  precincts  of  the 
abbey.  One  of  the  staffs  is  said  to  have  been  from  the 
tomb  of  Thierry,  second  abbot,  who  lived  early  in  the 
eleventh  century. 

Lead  may  have  been  employed  in  the  manufacture  of 
sacred  vessels  for  the  church  in  early  days,  as  its  use  for 
such  purposes  was  interdicted  in  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  Cardinal  de  Lugo  wrote  in  1652, 
"  The  chalices  used  in  churches  are  almost  always  of  bronze 
or  gilded  copper ;  the  reason  why  gold  and  silver  and  tin 
are  retained,  and  other  materials  are  proscribed,  is  that 
wood,  stone,  and  ivory,  being  porous,  absorb  a  portion 
of  the  consecrated  material ;  glass  breaks  easily ;  copper, 
bronze,  and  lead  often  take  by  contact  with  wine  an  oxida- 
tion, which  decomposes  certain  parts,  and  can,  by  charging 
the  liquid,  produce  sickness  or  disgust."2 

As  in  earlier  times,  lead  was  used  in  the  middle  ages  to 
rule  fine  lines  on  parchment  designed  to  be  written  upon, 

1  Archaeologia,  vol.  xxxvi.,  article  by  Ackerman. 

2  See  Bapst,  L'titain,  pp.  93,  104,  105,  137. 


190  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

when  it  was  desired  that  the  work  should  be  particularly 
regular  and  elegant.  The  lead  was  not  used  in  the  form 
of  a  stylus  or  pencil,  but  in  thin  round  plates,  which  would 
not  cut  the  parchment  or  bend  easily.  Some  old  manu- 
scripts preserved  in  the  British  Museum  show  very  clearly 
to  this  day  these  fine  lines. 

Lead  has  been  used  from  very  early  times  for  inlaying  in 
wood,  and  in  metals,  and  for  ornamenting  furniture,  armor, 
and  horse  equipments.  Articles  of  gold,  silver,  electrum, 
and  bronze,  inlaid  with  lead,  also  iron  weights  overlaid 
with  lead  or  bronze,  have  been  found  in  burial-mounds  in 
Norway,  Sweden,  and  in  Denmark,  dating,  it  is  supposed, 
to  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century.1  Moore  mentions 
the  discovery  of  ancient  scales,  with  balances  made  of  a 
mixture  of  copper  and  lead.2  In  France,  from  the  time  of 
Louis  IX.  to  Francis  I.,  the  beams  and  joists  of  the  apart- 
ments of  the  royal  palace  were  ornamented  with  an  alloy 
consisting  principally  of  lead,  cast  in  figures  and  richly 
gilded,  representing  "fleur  de  lis." 

The  use  of  lead  in  ancient  times  for  conduits  for  water 
has  been  referred  to.  In  1285  pipes  of  lead  were  laid  in 
Cheapside,  London,  for  supplying  the  city  with  water 
brought  from  Paddington.  Cardinal  Wolsey,  at  a  later 
period,  caused  more  than  eight  miles  of  leaden  pipe  to  be 
laid  for  supplying  water  to  his  palace  at  Hampton  Court. 

Lead  appears  to  have  been  used  in  the  eighth  century 
for  a  purpose  unknown  in  our  time,  as  leaden  beads  were 
recently  found  in  excavating  in  an  Anglo-Saxon  cemetery 
in  the  Isle  of  Wight.3 

The  mirrors  of  the  ancients  were  made  of  stone  or 
metal.  Silver,  copper,  or  an  alloy  of  copper  with  other 
metals,  were  used  by  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans.  Ac- 

1  Earl  of  Ellesmere,  Guide  to  Northern  Archaeology,  p.  55. 

2  Moore,  Ancient  Mineralogy,  p.  62. 

8  Archaeological  Journal  British  Archaeological  Association,  vol.  xxiii. 


LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE   AGES.  191 

cording  to  Pliny,  the  ancient  Romans  first  used  an  alloy  of 
stannum  and  copper,  and  the  best  were  made  at  Brun- 
disium.  The  stannum  referred  to  by  Pliny  was  probably 
tin,  though  Roman  mirrors  made  of  mixed  metals  fre- 
quently contained  lead,  and  the  stannum  mentioned  by 
Pliny  may  have  been  argentiferous  lead.  Silver,  in  Pliny's 
time,  was  preferred ;  but  this,  he  says,  "  has  been  corrupted 
by  the  devices  of  fraud."  According  to  Beckmann,  the 
first  mention  of  glass  mirrors  was  in  a  work  published  in 
1279.1  At  this  time,  and  for  a  long  time  subsequently,  the 
backs  of  mirrors  were  covered  with  lead  to  serve  instead  of 
quicksilver  for  the  reflecting  surface.2  Percy  mentions 
having  seen  at  Birmingham  glass  buttons  coated  with  lead 
at  the  back  to  give  them  a  bright  reflecting  surface,  and 
he  describes  the  process  in  detail.  The  same  method  was 
formerly  adopted  in  making  cheap  lamp-reflectors,  in 
which  the  general  contour  of  the  concave  metallic  sur- 
face is  preserved  by  setting  the  glass  in  small  pieces. 
This  process  is  also  used  to-day  in  backing  cheap  looking- 
glasses. 

Lead  was  used  in  the  manufacture  of  glass  in  very  early 
times.  Schliemann  found  at  Spata,  in  Greece,  great  num- 
bers of  small  ornaments,  which  proved  upon  analysis  to 
be  of  glass  which  contained  a  large  percentage  of  lead. 
These  objects  appeared  to  have  been  cast  in  moulds,  and 
were  provided  with  holes  or  rings  to  enable  the  owner, 
Schliemann  suggests,  to  fasten  them  upon  his  garment. 
He  ascribes  to  Spata  a  great  antiquity,  perhaps  as  early 
as  the  eighth  century  B.  c.3  Eraclius,  in  the  ninth  or 
tenth  century,  describes  the  manufacture  of  glass.  He 
says :  "  Take  good  and  shining  lead  and  put  it  into 

1  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiii.  chap,  xlv ;  ibid.,  book  xxxvii.  chap.  v. ; 
also  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  68  et  seq. 

2  Beckmann,   History  of  Inventions,   etc.,  vol.   ii.  p.  76;   see  also  Kopp, 
Geschichte  der  Chemie. 

8  Schliemann,  Mycenae,  introduction,  p.  45. 


192  A  HISTORY  OF  LEAD. 

a  new  jar  and  burn  it  in  the  fire  until  it  is  reduced  to 
powder,  then  take  it  away  from  the  fire  to  cool ;  after- 
wards take  sand  and  mix  with  that  powder,  but  so  that 
two  parts  may  be  of  lead  and  the  third  of  sand,  and  put  it 
in  an  earthen  vase.  Then  do  as  before  directed  for  mak- 
ing glass."  l  Beckmann  notices  an  ancient  mirror  which 
is  said  to  have  belonged  to  Virgil,  and  which  has  been 
preserved  among  the  antiquities  at  St.  Denis  from  an 
early  period.  This  mirror  was  accidentally  broken,  and 
an  analysis  of  some  of  the  fragments  showed  that  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  lead  was  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
the  glass.2 

Before  the  thirteenth  century  the  conveniences  of  the 
table  were  of  the  most  primitive  description.  A  man  and 
his  wife  ate  from  the  same  wooden  platter,  and  but  few 
households  possessed  more  than  two  or  three  drinking 
cups.  The  joint  was  brought  on  in  a  wooden  trencher,  and 
was  passed  to  each  guest  in  turn,  who,  taking  his  knife 
from  his  girdle,  cut  off  such  parts  as  he  wished.  After 
this  period,  however,  the  increase  of  wealth  and  power  in- 
duced in  the  higher  classes  more  luxurious  habits  and  a 
more  ostentatious  manner  of  living.  As  silver  was  far 
from  abundant,  the  nobles  and  the  wealthier  classes  were 
forced  to  use  a  less  rare  metal  for  articles  of  table  furni- 
ture, or  continue  to  share  with  their  servants  the  wooden 
trenchers,  which  for  many  years  remained  the  only  species 
of  platter  used  by  the  lower  classes.3 

When  pewter  vessels  were  introduced,  it  is  impossible 
to  say.  Some  think  the  first  manufacture  of  pewter 
was  perhaps  coeval  with  the  working  of  the  tin  and  lead 
mines  of  England ;  but  according  to  Hunt,  latten  ware,  or 

1  Eraclius,  De  Coloribus  et  Artibus  Romanorum,  translated  by  Mrs.  Merri- 
field  in  Original  Treatises  on  the  Art  of  Painting  (London,  1849,  2  vols.)  vol.  i. 
p.  216. 

2  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  76,  note. 
8  Hallam,  Middle  Ages,  vol.  iii.  p.  323. 


LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  193 

pewter,  came  into  general  use  in  the  fifteenth  century,1  but 
the  manufacture  had  become  so  important  in  1474  that 
the  pewterers  of  London  were  incorporated  by  an  act  of 
Edward  IV. 

Pewter  is  a  compound  of  tin  and  copper,  to  which  lead 
is  added  in  variable  amounts.  In  some  countries  the 
amount  of  lead  in  the  alloy  is  prescribed  by  law.  In  the 
ordinances  and  rules  of  the  tin-pot  makers  of  Nuremberg, 
who  were  celebrated  throughout  Germany  for  their  wares, 
they  are  forbidden  to  add  more  than  one  pound  of  lead  to 
ten  pounds  of  tin.  In  France  the  word  etain  means  pewter 
as  well  as  tin,  and  etain  mort  is  used  to  designate  pewter 
in  which  lead  forms  a  notable  part  of  the  alloy.  The 
Abbe*  Cochet  found  in  a  Gallo-Roman  tomb  in  France 
a  pewter  bottle,  which  proved  upon  analysis  to  be  composed 
of  sixty  parts  of  lead  and  forty  parts  of  tin.  The  Franks 
had  a  metal  called  "potin,"  which  was  used  in  place  of 
pewter,  and  was  largely  composed  of  lead.2  Pewter,  it 
seems,  if  these  statements  are  accepted,  was  in  use  at  a 
much  earlier  period  in  France  than  Hunt  accords  for  its 
general  use  in  England. 

The  London  pewterers  acquired  great  celebrity  for  their 
wares,  which  were  sold  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  The 
wardens  of  the  pewterers  had  the  inspection  of  pewter 
throughout  the  kingdom,  and  articles  made  of  this  alloy 
were  required  to  bear  the  official  stamp  before  being 
exposed  for  sale. 

In  early  times  the  chalices  and  salvers  used  in  the  Protes- 
tant churches  of  England  and  Germany  were  commonly 
made  of  pewter,  and  it  formed  a  large  portion  of  the  table 
furniture  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  England  so  late  as 
the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  In  the  "  household  boke  "  of  the 
Earl  of  Northumberland  of  that  day  is  a  charge  for  the 

1  Hunt,  British  Mining,  p.  46. 

2  See  Revue  Archeologique,  vol.  xliii.,  1882 ;  also  ib.,  third  series,  vol.  i.,  1883. 

13 


194  A  HISTORY   OF  LEAD. 

hire  of  pewter  vessels,  showing  that  it  was  too  costly  to  be 
very  common.  Domestic  articles  of  lead  were  sometimes 
used.  In  the  inventory  of  the  domestic  utensils  of  Sir 
Thomas  Ramsey,  made  in  1590,  several  vessels  of  lead, 
leaden  weights,  pewter  candlesticks,  and  a  quantity  of  un- 
manufactured lead  are  specified;1  and  in  the  inventory 
made  for  Sir  William  Fairfax,  in  1594,  appear,  among 
others,  the  following :  "  Item  :  I  seasterne  of  lead  for  bar- 
ley;  Item  :  VII  leades  for  mylk,"  pewter  "pottes,"  basins, 
ewers,  etc.  Among  the  articles  forbidden  to  be  imported 
into  England  in  1484  we  find  leaden  spoons  mentioned. 

Sheet-pewter  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  metal  used  in 
plate  engraving ;  and  prints  by  two  Florentine  artists,  who 
engraved  upon  this  metal  in  1460,  are  preserved  in  Eng- 
land. Albert  Du'rer  is  said  to  have  first  engraved  upon 
pewter  plates.  It  was  used  almost  exclusively  for  engrav- 
ing sheet-music  for  many  years.  Pewter  was  used  in  the 
middle  ages  in  the  execution  of  works  of  art.  Francis 
Briot  has  been  considered  one  of  the  most  skilful  artists 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  the  only  examples  of  his  work 
now  known  are  in  pewter.  Cellini,  in  his  treatise  upon  the 
goldsmith's  art,  recommends  the  goldsmiths  to  take  proofs 
in  lead  of  such  of  their  works  as  were  to  be  executed  by 
casting  to  preserve  them  as  models  for  other  works. 

The  pewter  work  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies in  France  is  said  to  have  frequently  been  exquisite. 
The  scarcity  of  gold  and  silver  made  it  necessary  for  the 
goldsmiths  to  make  plate  of  pewter  to  supply  the  demands 
of  the  middle  classes,  who  followed  the  lead  of  the  nobles 
in  decorating  their  dressers ;  and  some  of  these  pewter  ves- 
sels were  of  such  rare  designs  and  workmanship  that  they 
found  places  in  the  collections  of  royalty.  The  father  of 
Francis  I.  of  France,  Charles,  Count  of  Angouleine,  owned 
in  1497  a  large  collection  of  pewter.2 

1  Archseologia,  vol.  xl.  2  J.  Labarte,  Arts  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  263. 


LEAD  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES.  195 

Many  interesting  leaden  objects  are  preserved  in  the 
museums  of  Europe,  which  are  worthy  of  study  and  descrip- 
tion by  a  competent  archaeologist.  The  field  is  compara- 
tively unworked,  and  the  subject  is  an  important  and  an 
interesting  one ;  but  success  can  only  be  achieved  by  an 
ably  supported  enthusiast.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  series 
entitled  "  Les  Metaux  dans  1'Antiquite  et  au  Moyen  Age/' 
published  under  the  auspices  of  "  La  Nature,"  in  which  the 
sumptuous  work  by  M.  Germaine  Bapst,  "L'Etain,"  appears 
will  be  extended  so  as  to  cover  a  History  of  Lead  by  an 
author  so  felicitous  and  scholarly  as  M.  Bapst. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

WHITE   LEAD   IN   ANCIENT   TIMES. 

IN  primitive  communities  the  ceaseless  struggle  to  secure 
personal  safety,  and  to  procure  the  food  necessary  for 
daily  sustenance,  precludes  any  attempt  to  provide  habita- 
tions beyond  those  necessary  for  shelter  from  the  ele- 
ments ;  but  organization  gives  such  communities  power 
not  only  to  resist  attack,  but  to  successfully  assume  the 
aggressive,  and  finally  to  command  the  services  of  their 
less  thoroughly  organized  neighbors ;  they  are  thus  relieved 
from  the  harassing  care  and  toil  so  essential  in  primitive 
conditions  of  society  to  preserve  existence.  Under  these 
improved  circumstances  life  becomes  less  rude  and  a  desire 
is  conceived  for  a  more  commodious  and  convenient  dwell- 
ing-place than  the  cave  or  rude  hut  or  cabin  which  has 
hitherto  served  as  shelter.  The  Egyptians,  at  the  period 
of  the  erection  of  their  oldest  monuments,,  had  passed 
through  the  evolution  referred  to,  centuries  before,  and 
architecture  and  the  arts  of  sculpture  and  of  painting  had 
long  been  cultivated.  Heeren  suggests  that  the  study  of 
these  arts  formed  a  part  of  the  education  of  the  priests, 
and  that  they  were  the  directors  in  the  erection  of  the 
stupendous  structures  which  excite  the  wonder  and  admira- 
tion of  the  modern  archaeologist  and  scientist.  The  culti- 
vation of  the  arts  and  sciences  did  not  fail  to  create  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  a  taste  for  decoration  ;  we  find,  there- 
fore, that  the  Egyptian  monuments  of  as  early  a  date  as 


WHITE  LEAD  IN  ANCIENT   TIMES.  197 

the  sixth  dynasty  (2500  B.  c.)  exhibit  examples  of  sculptu- 
ral and  painted  decoration  of  a  very  elaborate  character. 
The  walls  of  their  tombs,  their  mummy  cases,  and  mummy 
wrappers,  were  carefully  prepared  and  decorated ;  their 
temples,  and  probably  their  dwellings,  were  painted  and 
decorated  inside  and  out ;  not  only  satisfying  their  artistic 
taste,  but  affording  a  gratifying  and  much  needed  relief 
from  the  glare  of  an  equatorial  sun  blazing  through  a 
cloudless  and  transparent  sky. 

Wood  was  rare  in  Egypt,  and  was  imported  in  great 
quantities ;  the  more  esteemed  varieties  formed  a  portion 
of  the  tribute  exacted  by  the  Pharaohs  from  conquered 
nations.  Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  timber,  the  walls  of  the 
dwellings  of  the  Egyptians  were  usually  built  of  unbaked 
bricks;  the  roofs  were  formed  of  beams  of  wood  covered 
with  clay,  and  both  walls  and  ceilings  were  carefully  stuc- 
coed, and  the  former  were  laid  off  in  panels,  and  painted  in 
red,  yellow,  and  other  gay  colors.  As  painted  decoration 
preceded  sculpture,  the  mouldings  and  other  ornaments, 
afterwards  cut  in  stone,  were  at  first  represented  by  paint- 
ing in  colors.  The  interior  walls  were  often  elaborately 
decorated  with  scenes  of  striking  character,  represented  in 
colors  and  surrounded  and  set  off  by  painted  borders.  The 
ceilings  of  the  temples  were  frequently  painted  blue  and 
sprinkled  with  stars,  in  imitation  of  the  celestial  vault.  It 
is  a  curious  fact,  referred  to  by  Heeren,  that  the  early 
Egyptian  artists  used  but  five  colors,  —  white,  yellow,  red, 
blue  and  green,  —  and  did  not  combine  them,  evidently 
having  no  idea  of  the  formation  of  shades  or  tints.1 

The  almost  total  destruction  of  the  Assyrian  cities  ren- 
ders it  impossible  to  speak  assuredly  of  the  character  of  the 
decorations  of  their  dwellings,  but  Smith  describes  several 
chambers  in  one  of  the  palaces  which  he  discovered  when 

1  See  Wilkinson,  Ancient  Egyptians,  vol.  ii.  p.  277  et  seq.;  also  Heeren, 
Historical  Kesearches,  vol.  iii.  p.  416. 


198  WHITE  LEAD 

digging  in  the  mound  of  Nimroud,  and  says  the  walls  were 
plastered  and  colored  in  horizontal  bands  of  red,  green, 
and  yellow,  and  that  even  where  the  walls  were  panelled 
with  stone  slabs,  the  plaster  and  colors  were  continued  over 
them.  The  outer  wall,  of  which  he  found  a  portion,  was 
faced  with  enamelled  bricks,  colored  and  representing  battle 
scenes.  He  ascertained  from  inscriptions  upon  some  of  the 
bricks  that  the  builder  of  the  palace  was  Shalmaneser  II., 
860  B.C.1  Layard  describes  chambers  formed  by  walls  of 
sun-dried  bricks  which  were  plastered  and  painted  with 
figures  and  ornaments,  but  he  was  unsuccessful  in  discov- 
ering the  subjects  of  the  paintings,  owing  to  his  inability 
to  remove  the  mass  of  debris  without  destroying  the 
plaster.  The  subjects  appeared  to  be  processions  of  kings 
and  warriors  depicted  in  colors,  red,  blue,  white  and  black; 
the  figures  were  generally  in  black  upon  a  blue  ground. 
Layard  found  similar  decorations  in  rooms  in  other  parts 
of  the  mound.2 

The  Assyrians,  therefore,  as  well  as  the  Egyptians  dec- 
orated their  palaces,  temples,  and  public  buildings,  in  colors, 
and  it  is  probable  that  they  also  thus  decorated  their  more 
important  dwellings. 

The  ancient  Hindu  temples  strongly  resembled  the  Egyp- 
tian in  their  general  arrangement.  They  were  guarded  by 
colossal  statues  of  gods  and  animals,  and  the  interior  walls 
were  elaborately  decorated  with  reliefs,  which  were  gayly 
painted.  The  absence  of  the  blending  of  colors  to  produce 
shades  and  tints  is  as  noticeable  here  as  in  Egypt.  "  Neither 
people,"  remarks  Heeren,  "seem  to  have  had  the  least  idea 
of  this  art  or  of  perspective."  3 

The  decoration  of  the  interior  walls  of  ancient  tombs 
was  frequently  very  elaborate.  The  Egyptians  considered 

1  George  Smith,  Assyrian  Discoveries,  etc.  (New  York,  1875),  pp.  78,  79. 

2  A.  H.  Layard,  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  vol.  ii.  p.  17  et  seq. 
8  Heeren,  Historical  Researches,  vol.  iii.  p.  416. 


IN   ANCIENT  TIMES.  199  , 

this  life  as  of  little  consequence,  a  mere  tarrying-plaee, 
whereas  the  future  life  was  indefinite ;  but  before  entering 
upon  it  one  had  to  remain  in  the  sepulchre  for  endless 
generations,  and  the  continuance  of  existence  depended 
upon  the  preservation  of  the  body.1  Hence  the  substantial 
character  of  the  tombs,  and  the  great  care  and  cost  ex- 
pended in  their  construction  and  decoration.  The  walls  of 
the  Egyptian  tombs  were  often  entirely  covered  with  scenes 
highly  finished  in  colors.  This  custom  was  by  no  means 
peculiar  to  Egypt.  In  the  caves  of  Ajunta  and  Baug,  in 
India,  wall-decorations  of  vast  extent  have  been  discovered, 
in  which  processions  of  elephants,  and  battle  and  hunting 
scenes  are  pictured  in  tasteful  though  florid  colors.  They 
are  considered  by  archaeologists  to  have  been  executed  as 
early  as  the  second  century  B.C.2 

The  Hebrews  were  acquainted  with  the  art  of  painting. 
The  paintings  at  Thebes  were  executed  before  the  birth  of 
Moses,  and  during  their  residence  in  Egypt  the  Hebrews 
must  have  become  familiar  with  the  customs  of  the  Egyp- 
tians. Moses  refers  to  paintings  when  he  commands  the 
Israelites,  in  passing  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  to  drive  out 
all  the  inhabitants  from  the  land  and  to  destroy  all  their 
pictures.3  The  prophet  Ezekiel,  looking  through  the  hole 
in  the  wall,  saw  "  every  form  of  creeping  things,  and 
abominable  beasts,  and  all  the  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel, 
portrayed  upon  the  wall  round  about."  * 

The  Etruscans  reached  a  high  state  of  civilization.  The 
graceful  shapes  of  their  vases,  and  the  artistic  and  careful 
drawing  of  the  figures  with  which  they  are  decorated  indi- 
cate a  cultivation  of  the  arts  quite  equal  to  that  of  the 
Komans  of  a  much  later  day.  They  also  decorated  the 

1  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  56. 

2  Dr.  Wilhelm  Lubke,  History  of  Art  (New  York,  1881,  2  vols.),  voL  i. 
p.  109.     See  also  American  Journal  of  Archaeology,  vol.  ii.  p.  209. 

8  Numbers  xxxiii.  52. 
4  Ezekiel  viii.  10. 


200  WHITE  LEAD 

walls  of  their  tombs  and  of  their  buildings  with  paintings. 
The  style  of  their  mural  pictures  is  said  to  resemble  that  of 
the  Egyptians,  and  shows  but  little  advance  over  that  nation 
in  the  use  of  colors ;  the  figures  in  their  paintings  are 
generally  in  monochrome. 

The  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  decorated  their  public 
buildings  in  a  similar  manner.  Portions  of  many  ancient 
Grecian  temples  still  bear  traces  of  the  colors  with  which 
they  were  painted.  The  frieze  of  the  temple  of  Theseus  at 
Athens,  the  cornice  and  other  parts  of  the  Parthenon,  still 
bear  testimony  to  the  prevalence  of  the  desire  for  this  style 
of  decoration.  The  walls  of  the  palace  at  Tiryns  were 
elaborately  decorated  with  rich  geometric  patterns  and  with 
figures  of  animals  colored  in  white,  black,  blue,  red,  and 
yellow.1 

The  painting  of  sculpture  was  thought  in  ancient  times 
to  add  to  its  beauty.  The  Egyptians  very  generally 
painted  their  sculptures.  Laj^ard  mentions  the  prevalence 
of  this  practice  with  the  Assyrians,  and  in  Pliny's  time  it 
was  universal.  According  to  this  author,  when  Praxit- 
eles was  asked  with  which  of  his  works  he  was  most 
pleased,  he  replied,  "  With  those  to  which  Nicias  [a  cele- 
brated painter  of  the  time]  has  set  his  hand."  2 

The  Romans  and  the  Greeks  universally  decorated  the 
interiors  of  their  dwellings.  Pliny  and  Yitruvius  give 
elaborate  instructions  respecting  the  method  of  preparing 
the  walls,  and  grinding  and  mixing  the  colors,  and  add  mi- 
nute directions  for  spreading  them.  Vitruvius  suggests  and 
comments  upon  the  proper  character  of  the  subject  to  be 
depicted.3  The  uncovering  of  Pompeii,  after  its  remark- 
able sleep  of  more  than  seventeen  centuries  under  the 
ashes  of  Vesuvius,  has  revealed  to  us  much  more  clearly 

1  Schliemann,  Tiryns,  p.  297  et  seq. 

2  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxv.  chap.  xl. 
8  Vitruvius,  p.  210. 


IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  201 

than  any  description  could  something  of  the  domestic 
life  of  the  Roman  of  the  first  century  of  our  era.  The 
homes  of  the  wealthier  classes,  though  small,  were  fre- 
quently decorated  in  a  most  luxurious  and  expensive  man- 
ner. The  pavements  were  laid  in  mosaic,  and  the  walls 
were  covered  with  bold  designs  painted  in  vivid  and  bril- 
liant colors.  Pliny  and  Vitruvius  repeatedly  refer  to  the 
extravagances  of  the  time,  and  bewail  the  decadence  of 
true  art  and  good  taste  in  the  struggle  of  the  wealthy  to 
outvie  each  other  in  lavish  expenditure.  The  walls  of  the 
Roman  and  Greek  dwellings  were  originally  painted  in 
monochrome,  and  merely  to  preserve  the  stucco  or  plaster, 
and  to  prevent  the  absorption  of  moisture.  This  preser- 
vative coating  was  soon  made  more  attractive  by  adding 
other  colors,  and  finally  the  walls  were  divided  into  com- 
partments or  panels  by  the  introduction  of  ornamental 
borders,  and  the  panels  were  filled  with  elaborate  designs 
representing  figures  and  landscapes  often  boldly  and  skil- 
fully drawn  and  painted  in  brilliant  colors.  Early  Greek 
art  seemed  to  be  entirely  subservient  to  the  decoration  of 
temples  and  public  buildings,  but  the  painters  of  Greece 
and  Rome  in  the  early  days  of  the  Empire  found  employ- 
ment in  the  decoration  of  the  homes  of  the  wealthy. 

The  pigments  used  by  the  Egyptians  and  the  Assyrians 
were  ochres,  clays,  lime,  and  salts  of  copper,  iron,  arsenic, 
manganese,  etc.  Their  blacks  were  composed  of  charcoal 
or  other  carbonaceous  substances  ;  their  whites  were  of 
clay  or  lime ;  for  blue  and  green  they  employed  salts  of 
copper  and  of  iron ;  for  yellow,  ochres  and  arsenious  sul- 
phide ;  their  reds  were  principally  composed  of  earths 
colored  with  iron  oxide  ;  they  probably  employed  cinnabar 
and  perhaps  lead  oxides.  Many  writers  refer  to  the  re- 
markable brilliancy  and  freshness  of  the  colors  in  the 
Egyptian  tombs,  and  fancy  that  the'y  possessed  some 
method  of  preparing  them  unknown  to  modern  manufact- 


202  WHITE  LEAD 

urers  ;  but  the  persistence  of  the  brilliancy  of  these  colors 
is  doubtless  solely  due  to  the  remarkable  dryness  and 
equability  of  the  Egyptian  climate. 

The  Greeks  and  Romans  used  much  the  same  pigments 
as  the  Egyptians,  with  the  addition  of  cinnabar  and  lead 
oxides.  White  lead  was  used  as  a  remedial  agent  in  the 
preparation  of  plasters  and  ointments  by  the  Egyptians, 
Greeks,  and  Romans.  It  is  classed  as  a  pigment  by  Pliny, 
who  mentions  it,  among  other  colors,  as  being  liable  to 
injury  upon  its  application  to  wet  stucco.  Other  ancient 
writers  refer  to  white  lead  as  a  j>igmentj  and  it  was  prob- 
ably commonly  used  as  such,  but  the  researches  of  ar- 
chaeologists have  thus  far  failed  to  discover  any  evidence 
of  its  use  as  a  pigment  in  the  examination  of  the  paint 
found  on  the  walls  of  buildings  and  tombs  of  ancient 
Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome.  Lead  oxides  were  undoubtedly 
used,  as  traces  of  this  pigment  have  been  found  in  several 
instances.  Although  Davy  failed  to  find  ceruse  in  his 
examination  of  the  pigments  discovered  in  the  excavations 
at  Pompeii,  he  believed  that  it  was  commonly  used,  and 
that  the  ancients  employed  salts  of  lead  of  different  tints 
between  Pliny's  usta  or  minium,  and  imperfectly  de- 
composed ceruse  or  pale  massicot.1  The  failure  to  find 
traces  of  white  lead  in  the  analyses  of  paint  used  in  the 
decoration  of  the  monuments  yet  examined  is  negative 
evidence  only,  and  cannot  be  accepted  as  proof  that  this 
pigment  did  not  enter  into  other  decorations  of  antiquity, 
the  frescos  and  pictures  in  encaustic. 

The  ancient  Romans  attained  to  no  inconsiderable  skill 
in  the  preparation  of  pigments,  and  the  manufacture  and 
sale  of  colors  was  a  well-established  branch  of  industry 
and  commerce.  One  of  the  shops  discovered  in  the  exca- 
vations at  Pompeii  had  jars  of  pigments  displayed  in 

1  The  Collected  Works  of  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  edited  by  John  Davy,  M.D., 
F.R.S.  (London,  1839,  9  vols.),  vol.  vi.  p.  139  et  seq. 


IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  203 

long  rows  ready  for  sale  to  the  artist  and  painter.  The 
methods  of  preparing  colors,  which  were  common  in  Italy 
at  the  time  of  the  revival,  in  the  twelfth  century,  were 
probably  the  same  as  those  used  by  the  ancient  Grecian 
and  Roman  painters. 

Pliny  mentions  the  use  of  a  native  ceruse,  found  on  the 
lands  of  Theodotus,  at  Smyrna,  "  which  the  ancients  made 
use  of  in  painting  their  ships."  "  At  the  present  day," 
he  continues,  "all  ceruse  is  prepared  from  lead  and  vine- 
gar." l  The  native  ceruse,  suggests  one  of  Pliny's  com- 
mentators, was  carbonate  of  lead  ore,  or  cerussite.  White 
lead,  the  cerussa  of  the  Romans,  is  to-day  one  of  the  most 
important  products  of  lead,  consuming  in  its  manufacture 
in  the  United  States  more  than  one  third  of  all  the  metal 
produced.  Nearly  the  entire  production  is  used  in  the 
preparation  of  paint  for  preservative  and  decorative  pur- 
poses. The  well-known  characteristics  of  white  lead,  its 
capacity  for  combination  with  linseed  oil,  —  the  vehicle 
universally  conceded  to  be  the  best  for  most  uses  in  paint- 
ing, —  its  resistance  to  atmospheric  influences,  together 
with  its  great  opacity,  caused  it  to  be  recognized  long  ago 
by  scientific  and  practical  men  as  the  most  acceptable 
white  pigment  for  general  purposes,  and  as  the  proper 
base  for  colored  paints. 

The  method  employed  in  England  and  in  the  United 
States  in  the  production  of  white  lead,  except  for  an  in- 
significant quantity,  is  that  known  as  the  Dutch  process, 
and  is  based  upon  the  following  principles.  When  metal- 
lic lead  is  exposed  to  the  action  of  atmospheric  air  and 
moisture,  it  becomes  covered  with  a  white  substance  com- 
posed of  carbonate  and  hydrated  protoxide  of  lead,  which 
is  the  white  lead  of  commerce.  This  action  is  facilitated 
by  subjecting  the  metal  to  a  moderate  heat,  slight  pres- 
sure, and  surrounding  it  with  the  vapors  of  acetic  acid. 

1  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxv.  chap.  xix. 


204  WHITE  LEAD 

White  lead  is  produced  by  the  Dutch  process  by  artificially 
creating  these  conditions,  and  submitting  metallic  lead  to 
the  corroding  effects  of  a  warm  atmosphere  loaded  with 
the  vapors  of  carbon  dioxide,  commonly  known  as  carbonic 
acid  gas,  of  acetic  acid,  and  of  steam. 

The  theory  of  the  chemical  reactions  perhaps  most 
generally  accepted  is  as  follows  :  Lead  has  a  great  affinity 
for  oxygen,  and  is  readily  attacked,  resulting  in  the  for- 
mation of  a  minute  film  of  lead  oxide.  This  oxide  is  in 
turn  invaded  by  the  vapors  of  acetic  acid,  resulting  in  the 
formation  of  a  double  acetate  of  lead,  the  normal  acetate, 
and  a  basic  acetate ;  carbon  dioxide  now  combines  with 
this  basic  salt,  forming  commercial  white  lead  and  normal 
lead  acetate,  which  latter  unites  with  a  portion  of  the 
freshly  formed  oxide,  producing  basic  acetate,  which  in 
turn  undergoes  the  changes  just  described.  This  process 
is  repeated  again  and  again,  a  minute  layer  of  white  lead 
being  formed  each  time,  until  all  the  metallic  lead  has 
been  converted,  or  so  long  as  all  the  conditions  requisite 
are  present. 

The  above  theory,  as  before  stated,  is  generally  adopted, 
but  it  is  not  fully  endorsed  in  all  its  details  by  some 
investigators  of  recognized  authority.  Hochstetter  con- 
sidered that  he  had  practically  proven  that  the  normal 
acetate  is  decomposed  by  carbon  dioxide  into  commercial 
white  lead,  and  that  the  acetic  acid  is  set  free  to  again 
attack  the  lead  oxide  and  form  the  acetate,  as  in  the  first 
case.  However  authorities  may  differ  regarding  the  de- 
tails of  these  reactions,  nearly  all  agree  that  at  first  a  salt 
is  formed,  which  is  afterwards  decomposed,  but  which 
gives  by  that  reaction  a  substance  which  is  capable  of 
producing  the  first,  and  that  this  process  is  continually 
repeated  so  long  as  all  the  conditions  requisite  are  present. 
Mulder  defines  commercial  white  lead  as  an  intimate 
mixture  of  the  carbonate  with  the  hydrated  protoxide  of 


IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  205 

lead,  the  usual  product  being  two  parts  of  the  carbonate 
to  one  of  the  hydrated  protoxide,  though  occasionally  the 
combination  consists  of  three  or  in  extreme  cases  more 
parts  of  the  carbonate  to  one  of  the  hydrated  protoxide. 
Gmelin  describes  white  lead  as  a  white,  earthy,  dense  and 
heavy  mass,  which  possesses  greater  coating  power  than 
any  other  white  pigment  by  whichever  process  prepared. 
Under  the  miscroscope,  diffused  through  water,  it  appears 
to  consist  of  non-crystalline,  transparent,  round,  and  oval 
globules  of  0.00001,  and  rarely  0.00003  to  0.00004  of  an 
inch  in  diameter.  White  lead  prepared  by  new  methods, 
he  says,  consists  of  globules  somewhat  larger  and  more 
transparent.1 

"White  lead  was  known  to  the  ancients  under  its  Greek 
name  psimithium,  or  its  Roman  name  cerussa,  the  latter 
word  connected  perhaps  with  the  latin  word  cere,  wax, 
probably  because  the  Romans  used  melted  wax  in  prepar- 
ing the  vehicle  for  spreading  it,  or  from  its  use  in  painting 
in  encaustic.  The  earliest  account  of  the  method  em- 
ployed in  its  preparation  is  contained  in  Theophrastus's 
"  History  of  Stones,"  a  work  written  about  three  hundred 
years  before  Christ.  This  author  describes  the  manufact- 
ure of  white  lead  as  follows :  "  Lead  is  placed  in  earthen 
vessels  over  sharp  vinegar,  and  after  it  has  acquired  some 
thickness  of  a  sort  of  rust,  which  it  commonly  does  in 
about  ten  days,  they  open  the  vessels  and  scrape  it  off,  as 
it  were,  in  a  sort  of  foulness ;  they  then  place  the  lead 
over  the  vinegar  again,  repeating  over  and  over  again  the 
same  method  of  scraping  it  till  it  has  wholly  dissolved. 
"What  has  been  scraped  off  they  then  beat  to  powder  and 
boil  for  a  long  time,  and  what  at  last  subsides  to  the 
bottom  of  the  vessel  is  ceruse." 2  Yitruvius,  a  Roman 
architect  of  the  first  century,  B.  c.,  says  :  "  It^  will  be 

1  Gmelin,  Handbook  of  Chemistry,  vol.  v.  p.  125; 

2  Theophrastus,  History  of  Stones,  p.  223. 


206  WHITE   LEAD 

proper  to  explain  in  what  manner  white  lead  is  made. 
The  Rhodians  place  in  the  bottom  of  large  vessels  a  layer 
of  vine  twigs,  over  which  they  pour  vinegar,  and  on  the 
twigs  they  lay  masses  of  lead.  The  vessels  are  covered 
to  prevent  evaporation,  and  when,  after  a  certain  time, 
they  are  opened  the  masses  are  found  changed  into  white 
lead." 1  Pliny,  writing  a  hundred  years  later,  says, 
"  Psimithium,  which  is  also  known  as  cerussa,  is  another 
production  of  the  lead  works,  and  the  most  esteemed 
comes  from  Rhodes."  This  is  quite  in  accordance  with 
the  reputation  of  the  Rhodians,  who  were  celebrated  at 
that  time  throughout  the  civilized  world  for  the  extent 
and  the  excellence  of  their  manufactures.  Pliny  describes 
the  process  of  manufacture  in  his  time  as  follows :  "  It  is 
made  from  very  fine  shavings  of  lead  placed  over  a  vessel 
filled  with  the  strongest  vinegar,  by  which  means  the 
shavings  become  dissolved ;  that  which  falls  into  the 
vinegar  is  first  dried,  and  then  pounded  and  sifted,  after 
which  it  is  again  mixed  with  vinegar  and  is  then  divided 
into  tablets  and  dried  in  the  sun  during  summer.  ...  It 
is  also  made  in  another  way.  The  lead  is  thrown  into  jars 
filled  with  vinegar,  which  are  kept  closed  for  ten  days  ; 
the  sort  of  mould  which  forms  upon  the  surface  is  then 
scraped  off,  and  the  lead  is  again  put  into  the  vinegar 
until  the  whole  of  the  metal  is  consumed."  2 

Dioscorides,  who  wrote,  in  the  first  or  second  century,  a 
work  on  Materia  Medica  and  Botany,  which  in  some  par- 
ticulars was  accepted  as  authority  for  fifteen  hundred 
years,  also  describes  the  process  of  converting  metallic  lead 
into  white  lead.  He  says  :  "  Ceruse  is  made  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner  :  having  poured  vinegar,  as  sharp  as  possi- 
ble, into  a  broad-mouthed  pitcher,  or  an  earthen  jar,  fasten 
firmly  a  mass  of  lead  near  the  top  of  the  jar  upon  a  mat 

1  Vitruvius,  p.  186. 

3  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiv.  chap.  liv. 


IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  207 

of  reeds,  previously  stretched  beneath,  and  throw  over  the 
jar  a  cover,  that  the  vinegar  may  not  evaporate  until  the 
lead,  dissolved  and  dripping  down  like  rain,  has  disap- 
peared ;  then  having  strained  off  the  clear  water,  which 
remains  upon  the  surface,  pour  into  a  vessel  that  which  is 
viscid ;  this  must  then  be  dried  in  the  sun,  presently  pul- 
verized in  a  handmill,  or  in  some  other  manner,  and  sifted ; 
afterwards  what  remains  hard  or  solid  must  be  reduced  to 
fine  particles  and  likewise  sifted;  the  same  process  must 
be  repeated  in  turn  three  or  four  times.  That  is  the  best 
which  first  passes  through  the  sieve,  and  this  must  also  be 
employed  for  the  relief  of  the  eyes ;  that  which  is  next 
sifted  out  holds  the  second  place,  and  in  succession  the 
others  in  their  order.  Others,"  he  continues,  "  having 
suspended  a  stick  of  wood  about  the  middle  of  the  jar, 
place  the  mat  of  twigs  before  mentioned  upon  it,  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  may  not  touch  the  vinegar,  and  throw  in 
the  lead,  putting  on  a  cover  and  sealing  it  tightly.  After 
ten  days,  removing  the  cover  they  look  in,  and  when  the 
material  has  been  dissolved  they  complete  the  other  opera- 
tion as  we  have  described."  Dioscorides  also  states  that 
the  work  can  be  done  in  the  winter  as  well  as  in  sum- 
mer, "  if  you  place  the  jar  over  braziers,  cauldrons,  or  fur- 
naces ;  for  heat  applied  to  it  shows  the  same  effect  as  the 


sun."1 


The  descriptions  given  by  the  writers  just  quoted  of  the 
methods  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  by  the 
ancients  are  not  acceptable  to  modern  science.  They  fail 
to  provide  for  the  presence  during  the  operation  of  carbon 
dioxide,  and  Dioscorides  alone  mentions  the  necessity  for  a 
gentle  heat.  Their  methods  literally  followed  would  pro- 
duce lead  acetate,  and  not  white  lead ;  and  some  modern 
writers  have  denied  that  the  ancients  really  knew  the 

1  Pedanius  Dioscorides,  De  Materia  Medica  (Curtius  Sprengel,  Leipsic,  1829, 
2  vols.),  vol.  i.  p.  769. 


208  WHITE  LEAD 

substance  which  we  term  white  lead.  Lead  acetate  is 
unsuitable  for  use  as  a  pigment.  It  is  freely  soluble  in 
water,  and  possesses  no  opacity  or  covering  properties  when 
mixed  with  a  suitable  vehicle  for  use  in  painting.  Pliny 
and  other  early  writers  refer  to  white  lead  as  a  pigment, 
and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  used  for 
such  purposes,  while  lead  acetate  was  then,  as  now,  a 
remedy  in  therapeutics,  and  was  probably  confounded  with 
white  lead,  and  both  substances  were  commonly  known  as 
cerussa. 

While  the  ancients  were  acquainted  with  and  success- 
fully conducted  many  chemical  and  metallurgical  processes 
their  knowledge  was  purely  empirical,  and  they  did  not 
comprehend  the  rationale  of  the  reactions  which  occurred 
directly  under  their  eyes.  Except  for  physical  charac- 
teristics, appearance,  taste,  odor,  weight,  etc.,  they  were 
unable  to  detect  the  difference  between  white  lead  and 
lead  acetate.  Their  ignorance  of  the  difference  in  the 
composition  of  these  substances  would  unquestionably  lead, 
in  some  cases,  to  their  use  indifferently  for  the  same 
purposes. 

The  ancient  manufacturers  seem  to  have  clearly  under- 
stood one  of  the  requisites  in  modern  practice  in  the  prep- 
aration of  white  lead,  —  the  necessity  for  supporting  the 
lead  above  the  acid  so  that  it  should  not  be  wetted  by 
it.  Theophrastus,  Vitruvius,  Pliny,  and  Dioscorides,  each 
insist  upon  it ;  but  there  are  statements  in  their  descrip- 
tions which  imply  that  lead  acetate  alone  was  produced. 
Dioscorides  describes  the  process  of  manufacture  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  lead  us  to  infer  that  the  ancients  found  the 
lead  dissolved  in  the  acid.  He  says  "  it  dripped  down  like 
rain,"  and  after  straining  off  the  clear  water  that  which 
was  viscid  was  dried  in  the  sun.  He  also  says  that  the 
first  which  passed  through  the  sieve  was  used  for  the  relief 
of  the  eyes. 


IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  209 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  modern  commercial  white 
lead  was  produced  by  the  methods  described  by  these  an- 
cient authors.  The  description  of  the  product  and  of  the 
manipulations  after  the  completion  of  the  chemical  reac- 
tions all  point  to  lead  acetate  as  the  result  of  the  operation. 
The  after-manipulation  is,  however,  not  altogether  incon- 
sistent with  the  production  of  both  substances  at  the  same 
time  and  in  the  same  apparatus.  Dioscorides'  account 
may  be  thought  to  imply  this,  and  Boerhaave,  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  later,  describes  an  apparatus  by  which  both  lead 
acetate  and  white  lead  may  be  prepared  by  one  and  the 
same  operation.  But  Dioscorides  alone  refers  to  the  neces- 
sity for  heat,  and  none  of  the  old  writers  give  us  any  clue 
to  the  source  from  which  they  obtained  their  carbon  dioxide. 
According  to  Hoffmann,  Galen,  in  the  second  century,  says 
that  white  lead  is  made  by  dissolving  litharge  in  vinegar, 
burying  the  vase  containing  these  substances  in  dung,  for 
forty  days.1  We  have  here  a  source  of  heat  mentioned, 
and  it  is  extremely  probable  that  this  natural  source  of 
heat  had  long  been  known  and  used  for  similar  purposes. 
The  notice  of  the  use  of  dung  in  aid  of  chemical  reaction 
at  this  early  day  is  important,  but  as  the  writers  generally 
direct  that  the  vase  shall  be  closely  covered,  it  is  not  prob- 
able that  this  substance  furnished  any  other  adjunct  to  the 
reaction  than  the  heat  evolved  in  its  decomposition. 

If  our  examination  of  the  methods  as  described  by  these 
ancient  authors  closed  here,  we  should  be  forced  to  confess 
that  the  writers  who  contend  that  the  ancients  were  unac- 
quainted with  modern  commercial  white  lead  are  probably 
correct,  as  no  reference  has  been  made  by  any  ancient  writer 
to  the  means  of  securing  the  presence  of  carbon  dioxide. 
There  is  no  question  respecting  the  necessity  for  providing 
for  the  presence  of  this  element  in  some  other  way  than  that 
suggested  by  certain  writers,  namely,  its  possible  produc- 

1  Hoffmann,  Das  Blei,  etc.,  p.  42* 
14 


210  WHITE  LEAD 

tion  in  the  decomposition  of  acetic  acid.  It  has  heen 
shown  by  Ludowig  and  others  that  if  lead  is  exposed  to  the 
vapors  of  acetic  acid  in  closed  vessels,  the  formation  of  a 
carbonate  would  not  occur.  Hochstetter  exposed  lead  to 
the  vapors  of  acetic  acid  in  air  which  was  free  from  carbon 
dioxide,  and  nothing  but  lead  acetate  was  formed.1  Meri- 
me'e  conducted  a  crucial  experiment  to  determine  this 
question.  He  placed  under  a  bell-glass  a  capsule  filled 
with  pure  vinegar,  and  adjusted  upon  it  some  plates  of 
lead,  separated  from  each  other  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
allow  a  free  passage  for  the  vapors  of  the  vinegar  on  all 
sides ;  he  then  luted  the  bell-glass  carefully  upon  the  plate 
which  supported  it.  He  next  prepared  a  similar  apparatus, 
but  he  put  into  the  vinegar  some  pieces  of  marble,  which 
produced,  by  their  decomposition,  carbon  dioxide.  The 
two  bell-glasses  were  then  exposed  to  the  same  tempera- 
ture, 35°-40°  centigrade,  during  a  month.  At  the  end 
of  this  period  the  plates  of  lead  in  the  glass  which  con- 
tained the  pure  vinegar  were  covered  with  a  crystalline 
and  transparent  layer  of  lead  acetate,  which  had  not  a 
trace  of  carbon  dioxide  in  its  composition  ;  while  the 
plates  in  the  other  glass  were  covered  with  a  layer,  more 
or  less  thick,  of  the  white  lead  of  commerce,  which 
proved,  after  drying,  to  be  equal  in  quality  to  the  finest 
Krems  white.2 

The  ancient  authors  whose  descriptions  of  the  methods 
employed  in  their  time  in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead 
we  have  quoted,  doubtless  had  no  practical  knowledge  of 
the  process,  and  trusted  entirely  to  other  and  earlier  au- 
thors for  their  information  upon  this  subject ;  consequently 
the  omission  to  refer  to  the  presence  of  one  constituent, 
though  it  be  as  in  this  case  an  all  important  factor,  might 
easily  escape  the  notice  of  those  unacquainted  with  the 

1  See  Gmelin,  Handbook  of  Chemistry. 

2  J.  F.  L.  Merime'e,  dela  Peinture  a  1'Huile  (Paris,  1830),  p.  226. 


IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  211 

rationale  of  the  process  and  the  absolute  necessity  for  the 
presence  of  such  an  element.  This  theory  would  naturally 
and  easily  explain  any  deficiency  in  their  descriptions ;  but 
this  deficiency  may  be  made  to  disappear,  if  we  examine 
into  the  probable  condition  of  the  acetic  acid  used  by  the 
old  manufacturer. 

Common  vinegar  is  dilute  acetic  acid  combined  with 
vegetable  impurities.  It  is  probably  the  oldest  acid  known. 
Dussauce  suggests  that  its  discovery  must  have  immedi- 
ately followed  the  discovery  of  wine,  as  in  the  warm  coun- 
tries, where  the  first  experiments  were  made  on  the  juice 
of  the  grape,  fermentation  must  have  set  in  very  quickly, 
and  the  wine  must  have  changed  into  an  acid  compound.1 
Although  vinegar  was  generally  known  at  a  very  remote 
period,  the  theory  of  its  production  was  not  understood 
until  a  comparatively  late  day.  The  method  of  concen- 
trating and  purifying  it  was  unknown  previously  to  the 
sixteenth  century. 

The  methods  employed  by  the  ancients  in  the  manu- 
facture of  vinegar  were  probably  much  the  same  as  those 
in  use  at  the  present  day  in  the  wine-growing  districts  of 
Europe,  where  every  farmer  and  vineyard  proprietor 
manufactures  his  own  vinegar.  These  domestic  manu- 
facturers provide  a  number  of  barrels  of  small  capacity, 
which  they  place  in  their  cellars  ;  into  these  barrels  they 
throw  the  residuum  of  the  grapes  after  pressing,  the  lees 
of  their  wine,  and  any  wine  which  has  become  unfit  for 
drinking  purposes.  The  temperature  of  their  cellars  is 
nearly  uniform,  and  time  only  is  needed  for  the  conversion 
of  the  material  into  an  acid  compound.  No  process  of 
manufacture  is  employed,  but  the  acetic  fermentation, 
after  it  has  begun,  continues,  so  long  as  the  necessary 
conditions  prevail.  As  the  vinegar  is  required  for  house- 
hold purposes,  it  is  drawn  from  the  casks,  and  as  materials 

1  H.  Dussauce,  The  Manufacture  of  Vinegar  (Philadelphia,  1871),  p.  19. 


212  WHITE  LEAD 

accumulate  they  are  added.1  The  residuum  of  the  grapes, 
which  rises  to  the  top  of  fermenting  tubs,  acidifies  very 
rapidly,  and  is  used  in  wine-growing  countries  in  the 
manufacture  of  vinegar.  In  these  natural  processes  the 
alcohol  produced  by  the  oxidation  of  the  musty  or  unfer- 
mented  juice  of  the  grape,  takes  up  another  portion  of 
oxygen  during  the  acetic  fermentation,  and  becomes  vin- 
egar, or  dilute  acetic  acid,  while  the  vinous  fermentation 
continues  in  the  lees  or  residuum  of  the  grape,  forming 
alcohol,  and  disengaging  carbon  dioxide  in  considerable 
quantities.  Pliny  tells  us  that  the  must  of  wine  is  subject 
to  a  spontaneous  fermentation  a  second  time,  and  that 
when  this  happened  it  lost  all  its  flavor  and  received  the 
name  of  "  vappa."  This  substance  was  vinegar,  but  the 
word  was  also  used  to  designate  vinegar  which,  by  expos- 
ure to  the  air,  had  lost  its  flavor.  This  author  also  states 
that  a  common  method  of  testing  wine  was  by  placing  in 
it  a  plate  of  lead ;  should  the  wine  prove  to  be  turning 
sour,  a  reaction  would  result,  the  acetic  acid  generated  in 
the  second,  or  acetous  fermentation  of  the  wine,  would 
attack  the  lead,  forming  upon  it  a  film  of  lead  acetate. 
Pliny  also  states  that  "  it  is  a  peculiarity  of  wine  among 
the  liquids  to  become  mouldy  or  else  to  turn  to  vinegar."  2 

If  we  therefore  assume  that  the  ancients  made  their 
vinegar  by  these  simple  processes,  the  difficulties  sug- 
gested above  disappear  at  once ;  as  the  source  of  the  car- 
bon dioxide  is  thoroughly  accounted  for,  —  the  unpurified 
vinegar  containing  notable  amounts  of  substances  which, 
in  fermenting  or  decomposing,  produce  carbon  dioxide. 

Theophrastus  tells  us  that  verdigris  was  made  in  a 
manner  something  resembling  the  method  of  preparing 
white  lead.  Copper  was  placed  in  vessels  over  the  lees 
of  wine,  and  the  "rust"  which  it  acquired  by  this  treat- 

1  See  Dussauce,  The  Manufacture  of  Vinegar,  p.  205. 
8  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xiv.  chap,  xxv.,  xxvi. 


IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  213 

ment  was  taken  off  for  use.1  Beckmann,  commenting 
upon  this  passage,  says  the  Greek  word  used  by  Theo- 
phrastus  had  more  than  one  meaning.  It  sometimes  sig- 
nified wine  lees,  and  sometimes  squeezed  grapes,  or  the 
residuum  after  expressing  the  juice ;  he  concludes  that 
the  ancients  used  for  this  purpose  "the  sourest  vinegar, 
or  the  sour  remains  left  when  they  made  wine,  such  as 
grapes  which  had  become  sour,  or  the  stalks  and  skins 
after  the  juice  had  been  expressed  from  them."  2  If  the 
ancients  used  wine  lees,  or  the  refuse  of  the  grapes  after 
pressing,  with  the  vinegar  in  making  white  lead,  the 
source  of  the  carbon  dioxide  is  satisfactorily  accounted  for, 
and  true  white  lead  would  be  produced. 

This  suggestion  receives  support  in  modern  practice. 
At  Klagenfurth,  in  Carinthia,  white  lead  is  made  in  closed 
chambers,  —  the  acetic  acid  and  the  carbon  dioxide  being 
simultaneously  produced  by  the  fermentation  of  the  extract 
of  dried  grapes  or  raisins,  or  of  the  residuum  of  grapes 
after  pressing.  Water-tight  boxes  are  prepared,  into  which 
the  raisins  or  the  residuum  is  placed ;  to  this  is  added  a 
quantity  of  vinegar.  When  subjected  to  heat,  the  vinous 
fermentation  begins  in  the  sweetish  liquor,  producing 
alcohol  and  carbon  dioxide,  and  the  acetic  fermentation 
also  occurs  in  the  alcohol,  producing  acetic  acid,  while  at 
the  same  time  the  vinegar  is  volatilized ;  thus  the  chamber, 
in  which  the  apparatus  is  erected,  is  filled  with  the  warm 
vapors  of  acetic  acid,  carbon  dioxide,  and  of  steam,  and 
the  conditions  requisite  for  the  conversion  of  metallic  lead 
into  white  lead  are  present.3 

If  we  accept  this  theory  we  must  admit  that  the  an- 
cients produced  the  substance  we  now  know  as  white  lead, 

1  Theophrastus,  History  of  Stones,  p.  225. 

2  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  172. 

8  J.  G.  Gentele,  Lehrbuch  der  Farbenfabrikation  (Braunschweig,  1880), 
p.  135. 


214  WHITE  LEAD 

and  that  their  process  differed  but  little  from  that  adopted 
in  some  modern  factories.  Dung  was  probably  used  as  a 
source  of  continued  and  gentle  heat,  though  not  at  that 
time  as  a  source  of  carbon  dioxide.  While  it  may  be  safe 
to  say  that  the  ancients  produced  true  white  lead,  their 
preparations  would  scarcely  sustain  modern  tests  for  ex- 
cellence. It  is  probable  that  their  white  lead  contained 
an  excess  of  acetic  acid,  or  was  largely  contaminated  with 
lead  acetate,  and,  as  has  been  remarked  above,  these  two 
substances,  white  lead  and  lead  acetate,  were  used  indif- 
ferently for  the  same  purpose. 

White  lead  was  probably  made  in  notable  quantities  at 
the  beginning  of  our  era.  Rhodes  seems  to  have  been  the 
most  important  seat  of  its  preparation.  Vitruvius  de- 
scribes the  Rhodian  method,  and  Pliny  says  that  made 
at  Rhodes  was  the  best ;  while,  according  to  Dioscorides, 
white  lead  was  made  in  great  perfection  at  Rhodes,  at 
Corinth,  and  at  Lacedemonia,  and  of  an  inferior  quality  at 
Puteoli.1 

Cosmetics  were  universally  used  by  women  in  ancient 
times ;  the  old  and  the  young,  the  married  and  single 
resorted  to  this  means  of  improving  their  appearance.  In 
its  natural  state  white  lead  served  as  a  powder,  and  col- 
ored with  the  juices  of  plants  —  generally  the  Anchusa 
Tinctoria  —  as  rouge  for  heightening  the  color  of  the 
cheek.  White  lead  colored  in  this  manner  has  been  fre- 
quently found  in  the  sepulchres  of  Greek  women.  A  little 
box  of  this  cosmetic  from  the  tomb  of  a  Roman  lady  is 
preserved  in  the  museum  at  Naples.  The  writers  of  that 
age  make  frequent  references  to  the  use  of  ceruse  as  a 
cosmetic  by  the  women.  Hoffmann  quotes  the  following 
quaint  story  from  Xenophon  :  — 

"  Ischomachus  had  a  beautiful  young  wife,  who  followed 
the  prevailing  fashion  and  rouged  and  powdered  her  lovely 

1  Dioscorides,  De  Materia  Medica,  vol.  i.  p.  769. 


IN  ANCIENT  TIMES.  215 

face,  and  moreover  wore  high-heeled  shoes  to  add  height 
to  her  figure.  '  Tell  me,  my  dear  wife/  said  Ischoma- 
chus  to  her  one  day,  '  in  which  case  would  you  consider 
me  the  more  worthy  of  your  affection  and  esteem,  if  I 
truly  informed  you  of  my  estate,  or  if  I  pretended  to 
possess  more  than  I  really  owned,  and  concealed  some 
things  from  you,  —  if  I  gave  you  false  silver,  a  wooden 
chain  plated  with  gold,  and  purple  raiment  which  would 
not  retain  its  hue.'  '  Oh  !  don't  speak  so,'  interrupted 
his  wife,  'you  could  not  do  such  a  thing.  If  you  were 
like  that  I  could  not  love  you.'  '  Then,'  said  Ischoma- 
chus,  '  dear  wife,  have  we  not  a  partnership  in  our  bod- 
ies as  well  as  in  our  possessions  ? '  6  Yes,'  she  replied, 
'  it  is  so  considered.'  '  Then,'  said  Ischomachus,  '  would 
I  treat  you  with  the  most  loving  consideration  if  I  smeared 
my  body  with  minium,  and  painted  under  my  eyes  in 
order  to  deceive  you ;  or  if  I  so  cared  for  my  body  that  it 
should  be  healthy  and  strong,  and  thereby  be  in  truth  and 
by  nature  painted.  Would  you  prefer,  when  you  pressed 
your  lips  to  my  cheek,  to  touch  my  own  natural  and 
healthy  skin,  or  a  plaster  of  ceruse  and  minium  ?  '  '  Ah  ! ' 
she  cried,  '  it  would  be  much  more  pleasant  to  touch  your 
skin,  and  to  see  you  as  you  really  are,  and  not  with  pow- 
der on  your  cheeks  and  paint  under  your  eyes.'  '  Believe 
me,'  said  Ischomachus,  '  I  like  not  ceruse  nor  minium  on 
your  dear  face.' '  He  then  explained  to  her  that  such 
arts  might  possibly  deceive  a  stranger,  but  could  not  her 
husband,  as  the  bath  and  her  tears  would  soon  remove  the 
cosmetic  coating.  The  young  wife  was  quickly  persuaded 
that  as  every  creature  in  his  own  natural  condition  best 
pleases  himself,  so  man  considers  the  unadorned  beauty  of 
woman  the  most  adorned.1 

Pliny  refers  to  the  use  of  ceruse  by  the  women  to  whiten 
the  complexion,  and  says  it  is,  like  the  scum  of  silver,  a 

1  Hoffmann,  Das  Blei,  p.  46. 


216  WHITE  LEAD. 

deadly  poison.  A  supposed  discoloration  of  white  lead 
by  the  action  of  sunlight  is  perhaps  referred  to  by  the 
Eoman  poet  Martial  when  he  says :  — 

"  The  chalked  Fabulla  fears  the  pouring  rain, 
Cerused  Sabella  dreads  the  blazing  sun."  l 

The  use  of  white  lead  as  a  cosmetic,  notwithstanding  its 
well-known  poisonous  qualities,  persisted  until  compara- 
tively recent  times,  and  our  modern  poets  have  referred 
to  it:  — 

"Fair  virgins  blushed  upon  him,  wedded  dames 
Bloomed  also  in  less  transitory  hues  ; 
For  both  commodities  dwell  by  the  Thames, 
The  painting  and  the  painted,  — youth,  ceruse."  2 

1  Martial,  Epigrammatica,  lib.  iii.  e.  xli. 

2  Byron,  Don  Juan,  canto  xi.  s.  xlviii. 


CHAPTER    X. 

WHITE  LEAD,   EIGHTH   TO   TWELFTH   CENTURY. 

MANY  modern  writers  state  that  upon  the  dismember- 
ment of  the  Roman  Empire  the  manufacture  of 
white  lead  was  monopolized  by  the  Arabs,  who  introduced 
the  industry  into  Spain  after  they  had  conquered  that 
country.  But  the  methods  emplo}red  by  the  Romans  in 
the  preparation  of  white  lead  were  known  in  Spain  a 
century  before  the  invasion  by  the  Arabs.  Isidore,  Bishop 
of  Seville,  was  a  man  of  great  learning,  piety,  and  influ- 
ence, and  a  voluminous  writer  upon  many  subjects.  He 
lived  late  in  the  sixth  and  early  in  the  seventh  centuries 
(he  died  in  636),  and  his  most  elaborate  production  was 
an  encyclopaedic  work,  which  is  really  a  compendium  of 
the  scientific  knowledge  of  his  time.  In  this  work  the 
method  of  preparing  white  lead  is  described,  but  the 
author  closely  follows  Pliny  and  other  early  writers,  and 
indicates  no  improvement  in  the  methods  proposed  by 
them.  He  says  :  "  White  lead  is  made  by  putting  vinegar 
into  a  vessel,  and  then  placing  therein  twigs,  upon  which 
thin  laminae  of  lead  are  fixed.  The  vessel  is  then  closely 
covered,  and  after  thirty  days,  if  you  open  it  you  will 
find  the  white  lead.  It  is  then  washed,  dried,  and  pul- 
verized, mixed  again  with  vinegar,  divided  into  tablets, 
and  dried  in  the  sun."  This  author  also  states  that  white 
lead  is  made  from  stannum,  meaning  perhaps  Roman  stan- 


218  WHITE   LEAD, 

num,  or  argentiferous  lead.1  Geber,  in  the  eighth  century, 
mentions  white  lead  and  says  that  it  is  prepared  by  sus- 
pending plates  of  lead  over  vinegar ;  after  a  time  a  white 
substance  forms  upon  the  lead,  which  must  be  scraped  oH 
and  dried  in  the  sun,  or  by  a  gentle  heat.2 

The  period  known  as  the  "dark  ages"  furnishes  but  little 
material  for  the  subject  under  discussion,  The  decay  and 
fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  was  followed  by  the  settlement, 
in  her  European  provinces,  of  barbarous  nations,  resulting 
in  many  cases  in  the  gradual  change  of  language.  Literary 
pursuits  were  abandoned,  and  Hallam  tells  us  that  after  a 
generation  or  two,  if  one  desired  to  study  he  found  himself 
obliged  to  learn  another  language,  as  the  literature  which 
had  escaped  the  vicissitudes  of  war  was  locked  up  in  manu- 
scripts written  in  Latin  or  Greek.  For  several  centuries  it 
was  rare  to  find  a  layman  who  could  read,  and  the  parish 
priest  was  frequently  unable  to  sign  his  name,  or  to  under- 
stand and  to  translate  into  his  own  language  the  prayers 
he  daily  repeated. 

From  the  third  to  the  tenth  century  but  little  progress 
was  made  in  the  arts  and  sciences  in  Europe.  Scholars 
and  students  were  persecuted,  and  finally,  to  avoid  being 
pressed  into  military  service,  they  fled  to  Bagdad  where  the 
Arabs  had  established  schools  of  philosophy.  The  works 
of  Aristotle,  Galen,  and  of  other  Greek  and  Roman  philoso- 
phers, brought  to  Bagdad  by  these  scientific  refugees,  were 
translated  into  Syriac,  and  were  afterwards  taken  by  the 
Arabians  to  their  schools  at  Granada  and  Cordova,  where 
their  philosophers  cultivated  the  arts  and  sciences  and 
made  many  important  discoveries  in  astronomy,  botany, 
and  in  other  branches  of  science. 

The  decline  in  learning  in  Europe  was  most  conspicuous 
in  the  sixth  century.  In  the  seventh,  Bede  of  England  and 

1  Divi  Isidori,  Hispal.  Episcopi,  etc.,  Madrid,  1599. 

2  Gebri,  Regis  Arabum  Chymia  (Gedani,  1682),  p.  209. 


EIGHTH   TO   TWELFTH  CENTURY.  219 

Isidore  of  Seville,  says  Hallain,  were  the  only  writers 
worthy  of  note.  The  tenth  century  has  been  considered 
the  most  barbarous  among  Christian  nations.1 

The  preservation  of  existing  manuscripts  of  this  early 
period  is  chiefly  due  to  the  religious  fraternities,  whose 
members,  under  the  quiet  routine  and  stern  discipline  of 
their  establishments,  found  leisure  for  literary  pursuits  and 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  arts  and  technical  processes. 
Such  manuscripts  as  they  preserved  were  laboriously  copied 
and  exchanged  with  other  religious  houses.  Their  rarity 
now  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  conquest  of 
Alexandria  by  the  Saracens  cut  off:  from  Europe  the  supplies 
of  papyrus  upon  which  the  earlier  manuscripts  were  written, 
and  the  skins  necessary  to  prepare  the  parchment  which 
was  used  as  a  substitute  became  very  scarce  and  dear.  To 
such  straits  were  the  copyists  driven  that  very  valuable 
old  manuscripts  were  frequently  erased  to  provide  material 
for  transcribing  works  now  of  little  or  no  value.2 

The  religious  orders,  already  rich  and  powerful,  received 
large  accessions  to  their  membership,  as  early  as  the  eighth 
century,  from  those  who  desired  to  escape  from  the  tyranny 
of  the  nobles  and  from  the  hardships  of  the  military  ser- 
vice. The  monks  organized  schools  and  corporations  of 
workmen  and  artificers.  They  monopolized  many  trades 
and  undertook  the  foundation  of  great  establishments. 
The  arts  and  technical  processes,  destroyed  in  the  secular 
world,  were  preserved  and  flourished  in  the  seclusion  and 
quiet  of  their  monasteries.  For  many  centuries  the  monks 
were  the  only  scholars,  artists,  physicians,  and  manufacturers 

1  See  Hallam,  Middle  Ages,  voL  iii.  pp.  260  et  seq. ;  also  Paul  Lacroix,  Sci- 
ence et  Lettres  au  Moyen  Age  (Paris,  1877)*  p.  117  et  seq.     A  superstition  very 
generally  prevailed  during  the  dark  ages  that  the  world  would  come  to  an  end 
in  the  year  1000.     It  has  been  suggested  that  the  belief  in  the  certainty  of  this 
catastrophe  was  perhaps  the  occasion  of  the  suspension  of  all  progress.    After 
the  passage  of  this  date,  without  fatal  consequences,  a  general  reaction  followed. 

2  Examples  of  this  mutilation  of  MSS.  are  preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 


220  WHITE  LEAD, 

of  any  but  the  rudest  and  coarsest  wares ;  every  monastery 
had  its  dispensary  and  its  laboratory,  its  collection  of  min- 
erals, and  its  botanical  garden.  The  friars  were  the  archi- 
tects, builders,  and  decorators  of  their  cathedrals  and 
monastic  establishments.  They  built  roads  and  bridges.1 
In  some  countries  the  monks  added  trading  and  commerce 
to  their  other  pursuits.  In  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries 
they  were  granted  extraordinary  privileges  in  France,  their 
goods  were  free  of  all  tolls  and  duties,  and  their  control  of 
trade  added  largely  to  their  wealth.  Their  monopoly  of 
commerce  finally  became  so  oppressive  that  Charlemagne, 
in  the  ninth  century,  restricted  their  operations  by  pro- 
hibiting personal  traffic  by  monks.2 

The  artistic  skill,  refined  taste,  and  wonderful  patience 
of  the  monks  is  well  attested  by  the  elaborate  character  of 
the  decorations  of  the  religious  manuscripts  of  the  middle 
ages.  Before  the  invention  of  printing,  all  books  were 
copied  and  decorated  by  hand.  This  work  was  almost  ex- 
clusively performed  by  the  friars,  and  in  every  monastic 
establishment  one  room  was  set  aside  for  this  purpose  and 
called  the  scriptorium.  The  work  was  usually  divided  into 
two  branches  :  the  illuminators  or  decorators  were  called 
miniatori,  or  miniature  painters ; 3  the  writing  of  the  man- 
uscripts was  the  work  of  other  monks,  who  were  termed 

1  The  Friars  of  Pont  Saint  Esprit  built  a  bridge  of  stone  2,800  feet  long, 
carrying  it  across  the  stream  upon  twenty-two  massive  arches. 

2  See  Leger,  Les  Travaux  Publics,  etc.,  pp.  738,  739  ;  Pigeonneau,  Histoire 
Du  Commerce,  etc.,  p.  108  et  seq. 

The  Cistercian  monks  in  England,  so  late  as  1344,  were  exempt  from  all  pub- 
lic taxes,  and  those  who  settled  in  Lincolnshire  became  merchants.  MACPHER- 
SON  :  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  i.  p.  532. 

8  The  word  "  miniatori,"  or  miniature,  is  derived  from  "minium,"  the  an- 
cient name  for  red  lead.  The  first  illuminating  consisted  simply  of  red  lines  at 
the  top  and  bottom,  and  occasionally  at  the  sides  of  the  page.  The  initial  and 
capital  letters  were  also  frequently  written  in  minium.  In  early  printing  the 
initial  and  capital  letters  were  illuminated  in  red  by  hand.  The  word  "  rubrics  " 
applied  to  the  directions  for  service  in  the  modern  prayer-book  of  the  church, 
is  derived  from  the  Latin  word  "rubrica,"  red. 


EIGHTH  TO  TWELFTH  CENTURY.  221 

miniatori  cdligrqfi.  Sometimes  the  entire  work  was  per- 
formed by  one  and  the  same  person,  in  which  case  he  was 
termed  a  "  writer,"  and  the  term  "  writing"  was  applied  to 
painting,  and  was  not  confined  to  miniature  painting,  but 
also  to  painting  upon  glass.1  Examples  of  the  exquisite 
work  of  the  artist  monks  are  familiar  treasures  in  public 
and  private  libraries.  Many  are  quite  extraordinary  in  the 
character  and  the  elaborateness  of  their  decoration.2 

To  some  of  these  old  manuscripts,  these  links  in  the 
chain  of  art  connecting  our  own  times  with  the  glories  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  —  links  which  would  have  been  lost,  and 
the  chain  irreparably  broken,  but  for  their  fortunate  pres- 
ervation by  the  monks  of  the  middle  ages,  —  to  these  man- 
uscripts we  must  refer  to  connect  the  methods  employed 
in  the  preparation  of  white  lead  in  modern  times,  with  the 
practice  of  the  ancient  Grecian  and  Roman  manufacturers. 

In  his  ponderous  work  on  the  Italian  antiquities  of  the 
middle  ages,  Muratori  publishes  a  Byzantine  manuscript 
which  is  ascribed  by  competent  authority  to  the  eighth 
century.  Among  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  recipes 
we  find  the  following :  "  Concerning  the  making  of 
Psimitthin  (white  lead).  Take  strong  vinegar  and  place 
it  in  a  pot  so  that  it  can  evaporate.  Then  take  long  thin 
plates  of  lead  and  suspend  them  above  the  vinegar  so  that 
the  fumes  may  pass  over  them.  The  sediment  quickly 

1  See  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises  on  Arts  of  Painting  (London,  1849), 
vol.  xix.  p.  3 ;  also  C.  L.  Eastlake,  History  of  Painting  (London,  1847),  p.  11  et 
seq.     The  modern  sign-painter  is  called  by  the  craft  a  "  sign-writer." 

2  The  choral-books  of  the  Convent  of  San  Marco  at  Florence  occupied  several 
monks  five  years,  while  the  thirty  books  belonging  to  the  Cathedral  of  Ferrara 
required  no  less  than  fifty-eight  years  to  complete.     The  monks  who  could  read 
were  urged,  "  if  they  desired  to  please  God,"  to  copy  MSS.,  and  those  who  were 
illiterate  were  desired  to  learn  how  to  bind  them.     Great  care  was  used  to  pre- 
vent and  to  correct  errors  in  copying  the  MSS.     Lacroix  quotes  from  the  collec- 
tion of  Baluze  (in  789)  "  On  aura  de  bons  textes  catholiques  dans  tons  les  rnonas- 
teres  afin  de  ne  point  faire  de  demandes  a  Dieu  en  mauvais  langage."     See 
Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age  (Paris,  1874),  p.  438  et  seq.;  also  Mrs.  Mem- 
field,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  p.  29. 


222  WHITE  LEAD, 

subsides,  and  the  clear  acid  is  left  in  the  jar.  Wash  in 
water  three  times  and  dry  in  the  sun ;  wash  again  until  all 
roughness  is  removed,  and  again  dry  in  the  sun."  1  This 
formula  it  will  be  observed  is  similar  to  the  methods  de- 
scribed by  Theophrastus,  Vitruvius,  and  other  earlier  writers 
and  it  was  probably  copied  from  an  earlier  manuscript  or 
directly  from  the  works  of  Theophrastus  or  Vitruvius. 

In  1774,  Lessing,  at  that  time  librarian  to  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick,  discovered  in  the  library  at  Wolfenbiittel, 
bound  up  with  one  by  Vitruvius,  a  manuscript  bearing  the 
title,  "Diversarum  Artium  Schedula  "  by  Theophilus,  Pres- 
byter. This  work  was  referred  to  by  a  writer  as  early  as 
1555,  at  which  time  but  two  copies  were  known  to  exist, — 
one  in  the  possession  of  George  Agricola,  and  the  other  in 
the  library  of  the  convent  of  Alten  Zelle.  Lessing  thought 
that  the  one  then  in  the  library  under  his  charge  was  the 
copy  formerly  owned  by  Agricola ;  the  other  had  been 
finally  placed  in  the  library  at  Leipsic.2  Raspe,  an  English 
scholar,  discovered  a  copy  of  this  manuscript  in  the  library 
of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  and  one  in  the  Cambridge 
University  Library  ;  another  copy  is  in  the  Nani  Library 
at  Venice ;  a  sixth  is  bound  with  other  manuscripts  in  a 
collection  by  Jean  Le  Begue,  and  is  in  the  Royal  Library 
at  Paris ;  and  finally  the  seventh,  and  by  far  the  most 
complete,  was  found,  in  1844,  among  the  Harleian  manu- 
scripts in  the  British  Museum.  Some  of  these  copies  are 
incomplete;  but  they  abound  in  information  relating  to 
the  manufacture  of  glass,  to  the  working  of  metals,  and  to 
painting  in  fresco,  in  encaustic,  and  to  the  use  of  oil  in 
painting  on  wood,  canvas,  and  on  vellum.  The  directions 
for  the  use  of  oil  in  painting  contained  in  this  manuscript 
were  the  occasion  of  much  discussion  and  remark  when 

1  Muratori,  Antiquitates  Italicae  Medii  Aevi  (Mediolani,  1738),  vol.  ii.  p.  370. 

2  Vom  Alter  der  Oelmalerei,  Lessings  Sammtliche  Schriften,  Karl  Lachmann 
(Berlin,  1839,  9  Band),  s.  443. 


EIGHTH   TO   TWELFTH   CENTURY.  223 

public  attention  was  directed  to  it  by  Lessing,  in  a  pamph- 
let noticing  this  portion  of  the  treatise ;  as  previous  to 
that  time  the  invention  of  the  art  of  painting  in  oil  had 
been  attributed  to  Van  Eyck,  a  Flemish  painter  who 
lived  in  the  fifteenth  century.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
manuscript  by  which  either  the  time  in  which  it  was 
written  or  the  country  of  the  author  can  be  definitely 
fixed.  He  calls  himself  "  Theophilus,  a  humble  monk  and 
priest ; "  in  the  copies  at  Venice  and  in  the  British  Museum 
he  is  also  called  "Rugerus,"  which  is  supposed  by  some  to 
have  been  his  true  name,  "  Theophilus  "  being  a  common 
name  among  the  monks,  assumed  by  them  upon  entering 
holy  orders.  Lessing  thought  that  undoubted  indications 
existed  .that  Theophilus  was  German,  and  identified  him 
with  a  monk  of  the  Convent  of  Saint  Galle,  named  Tutilo, 
who  was  known  to  be  a  great  painter  and  artist,  and  who 
lived  in  the  ninth  century.  Lessing  argued  that  the  work 
is  evidently  of  as  early  a  date  as  the  ninth  century,  and 
supported  his  argument  by  pointing  out  that  "  Tutilo  "  is 
German  for  the  Greek  name  "  Theophilus."  1  Later  author- 
ities generally  agree  with  Lessing  that  Theophilus  was 
probably  a  German,  as  many  terms  used  by  him  are  Ger- 
man, and  all  the  copies  of  the  manuscripts  yet  discov- 
ered which  are  at  all  complete  have  been  shown  to  have 
come  from  Germany.2  Tambroni,  however,  insists  that 
Theophilus  was  certainly  an  Italian.3 

While  an  approach  to  harmony  exists  as  to  the  national- 
ity and  name  of  the  author  of  this  remarkable  manuscript, 
there  is  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  time  in  which 
he  wrote.  Lessing  thought  the  manuscript  at  Wolfenbiittel 
was  copied  in  the  tenth  or  the  eleventh  century ;  that  at 

1  Lessing,  Vom  Alter  der  Oelmalerei,  p.  450. 

2  Kobert  Hendrie,  Translation  of  Theophilus,  p.  20. 

8  Sig.  Tambroni,  in  preface  to  A  Treatise  on  Painting  by  Cennino  Cennini, 
translated  by  Mrs.  Memfield  (London,  1845),  p.  51. 


224  WHITE  LEAD, 

Leipsic  is  considered  to  be  of  the  fourteenth  century ;  that 
discovered  by  Raspe  at  Cambridge  University  library,  and 
the  copy  he  afterwards  found  in  Trinity  College  library, 
"  are  written/'  he  says,  "  on  vellum,  in  a  character  such  as 
was  used  in  the  thirteenth  century." 1  The  copy  at  Paris, 
in  the  collection  of  manuscripts  made  by  Le  Begue,  is  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  while  that  at  Venice  is  said  to  be  as 
late  as  the  seventeenth  century. 

Raspe  contends  that  Theophilus  must  have  lived  in  or 
about  the  tenth  century.  Lessing,  as  we  have  seen,  fixes 
the  date  as  early  as  the  tenth  or  eleventh ;  Hendrie  places 
the  work  as  of  the  early  part  of  the  eleventh  century,2 
while  Guichard,  in  his  introduction  to  the  translation  by 
L'Escalopier,  says  that  a  work  which  treats  so  elaborately 
of  painting,  of  illuminating,  engraving,  founding  of  metals, 
building  of  organs,  etc.,  has  a  place  only  in  the  time  of  the 
Renaissance,  "  such,  in  modern  history,  is  the  character 
of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  which  gave  to 
science  Roger  Bacon,  Raymond  Lulle,  Dante,  Cimabue, 
Giotto,  Saint  Bernard,  Louis  IX.,  the  Crusades,  etc."  3 

In  Trinity  College  library,  Cambridge,  Raspe  found,  in 
1774,  bound  with  a  copy  of  Theophilus,  a  manuscript  en- 
titled "  De  Coloribus  et  Artibus  Romanorum,  by  Erac- 
lius ; "  Raspe  pronounced  this  copy  to  be  in  the  handwriting 
of  the  thirteenth  century.4  But  one  other  copy  of  this 
manuscript  is  known  to  exist,  and  that  is  in  the  collection 
made  by  Le  Begue,  and  preserved  in  the  library  at  Paris. 
The  same  uncertainty  exists  as  to  the  time  and  nationality 
of  Eraclius  that  is  observed  respecting  Theophilus.  Raspe 
says:  "Both  seem  to  have  lived  in  the  darkest  ages  of 

1  R.  E.  Raspe,  A  Critical  Essay  on  Oil  Painting,  etc.  (London,  1781),  pp. 
39,  42. 

2  Hendrie,  Translation  of  Theophilus,  p.  15. 

8  Cte.  Charles  de  L'Escalopier,  Theophile,  Pretre  et  Moine,  Essai  sur  Divers 
Arts  (Paris,  1843),  introduction  par  J.  Marie  Guichard,  p.  49. 
4  Raspe,  A  Critical  Essay  on  Oil  Painting,  p.  42. 


EIGHTH  TO  TWELFTH  CENTURY.  225 

monkish  ignorance."  1  The  name  Heraclius  or  Eraclius  is 
Greek,  but  the  fine  arts  were  cultivated  at  Rome  during 
the  period  of  her  greatness  by  Greek  artists,  or  by  artists 
of  the  Greek  school,  and  Greek  names  were  common  in 
Italy  after  the  dismemberment  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
Eraclius  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  monk,  but  ad- 
dresses his  work  to  a  friar  or  brother.  Raspe  denounces  him 
as  "  an  ignorant  quack,"  because  he  speaks  of  his  secrets 
"  with  the  boasting  consequence  of  an  empyric." 2  He 
further  says  :  "  We  are  not  much  mistaken  in  supposing 
he  lived  and  wrote  soon  after  Isidore  of  Seville."  3  Hen- 
drie  thinks  he  did  not  write  later  than  the  latter  part  of 
the  tenth  century.4  It  is  probable  that  some  portions 
of  the  manuscript  of  Eraclius  were  written  before  that  of 
Theophilus,  but  other  portions  are  undoubtedly  later ;  and 
Mrs.  Merrifield  is  perhaps  correct  in  the  suggestion  that  a 
portion  of  the  manuscript  is  simply  a  miscellaneous  col- 
lection of  recipes  and  works  on  art,  of  various  origins, 
made  by  some  compiler  at  a  period  greatly  subsequent  to 
the  original  work  of  Eraclius.5 

Another  ancient  manuscript  relating  to  the  arts,  enti- 
tled 4i  Mappae  Clavicula,"  was  noticed  some  years  ago,  in 
"  Archseologia,"  by  Sir  Thomas  Phillipps,  then  the  owner  of 
the  only  copy  known  to  exist.  Phillipps  published  a  tran- 
script of  this  manuscript,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been 
written  in  the  twelfth  century.  The  author  is  entirely 
unknown,  but  Phillipps  suggests  that  he  may  have  been 
an  Englishman,  who  lived  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  that 
the  methods  described  are  those  used  by  the  Anglo  Saxons. 
It  is  also  pointed  out  that  the  places  referred  to  are  in 
Italy  and  southern  Europe,  and  that  a  similarity  exists 

1  Raspe,  A  Critical  Essay  on  Oil  Painting,  p.  36. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  46.  8  Ibid.,  p.  47. 
4  Hendrie,  Translation  of  Theophilus,  p.  14. 

6  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  180. 

15 


226  WHITE  LEAD, 

between  the  processes  described  in  this  and  in  other  manu- 
scripts of  equally  uncertain  origin  and  date.  It  is  sug- 
gested that  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  whether  this  is 
older  than  parts  of  Eraclius  or  not ; l  by  some  it  is  consid- 
ered older,  as  it  does  not  mention  painting  in  oil,2  but 
authorities  seem  to  agree  that  portions  of  Eraclius  are 
older. 

There  is  preserved  in  the  Bibliotheque  Royale,  at  Paris, 
a  manuscript  of  Jehan  Le  Begue,  a  Licentiate  in  the  Law, 
and  Notary  of  the  Masters  of  the  Mint  at  Paris.  This 
manuscript,  compiled  in  1431,  is  referred  to  by  Lessing 
as  containing  a  copy  of  the  manuscript  of  Theophilus.3  It 
contains  a  portion  only  of  that  interesting  work,  but 
it  includes  one  of  the  two  copies  of  the  manuscript  of 
Eraclius  which  are  known  to  exist.  Le  Begue  says  he 
compiled  the  manuscript  from  a  collection  of  works  on 
painting  made  by  Jehan  Alcherius,  or  Alcerius. 

Little  is  known  of  Alcherius,  except  that  he  devoted 
the  better  part  of  his  life  to  the  formation  of  this  collec- 
tion of  recipes.  The  first  notice  of  him  is  in  1382,  when 
he  was  living  in  Milan.  He  visited  Paris  during  this  year, 
and  for  thirty  years  afterwards  he  appears  to  have  trav- 
elled extensively  in  France  and  Italy,  residing  in  Paris, 
Milan,  Padua,  Bologna,  Venice,  and  other  Italian  cities, 
associating  with  painters  and  artist-monks,  collecting  and 
copying  recipes  for  painting,  gilding,  the  preparation  of 
pigments,  etc.  At  the  date  of  the  last  notice  of  him,  late 
in  1411,  he  was  in  Paris,  recopying  and  correcting  the 
manuscripts  he  had  collected.  Twenty  years  after,  Le 
Begue  copied  the  manuscript  of  Alcherius  into  one  volume, 
to  which  he  added  a  copy  of  a  portion  of  the  manuscript 
of  Theophilus,  a  manuscript  of  Petrus  de  Sancto  Audemaro, 

1  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  167. 

2  C.  L.  Eastlake,  History  of  Painting,  vol.  i.  p.  32. 
*  Lessing,  Vom  Alter  der  Oelmalerei,  p.  448. 


EIGHTH  TO  TWELFTH  CENTURY.  227 

and  three  books  by  Eraclius,  entitled  "  De  Coloribus  et 
Artibus  Romanorum."  l 

The  weight  of  authority  seems  to  give  to  some  parts  of 
the  manuscript  of  Eraclius  the  earlier  place,  and  it  may 
perhaps  without  serious  question  be  assigned  to  as  early 
a  period  as  the  tenth  or  the  eleventh  century.  Eraclius 
treats  of  many  subjects.  He  describes  the  process  of 
making  glass,  using  lead  in  its  composition,  and  he  treats 
of  its  decoration  and  its  engraving.  He  tells  us  how  to 
polish  gems,  to  glaze  pottery,  to  prepare  drying-oils,  to 
make  white  lead,  to  prepare  wood  for  painting,  etc. 
He  says :  "If  you  wish  to  make  the  white  which  is 
called  ceruse,  take  lead  plates  and  put  them  into  a  new 
jar,  and  so  fill  the  jar  with  very  strong  vinegar  and  cover 
it  up,  and  set  it  in  some  warm  place,  and  leave  it  so 
for  a  month ;  then  open  the  jar  and  put  what  you  find 
adhering  to  the  strips  of  lead  into  another  jar,  and  place 
it  upon  the  fire,  and  keep  stirring  up  the  color  until  it 
becomes  as  white  as  snow." 2  This  description  of  the 
methods  employed  is  very  similar  to  those  given  by  Theo- 
phrastus,  Vitruvius,  Pliny,  and  Dioscorides,  and  is  open  to 
the  same  objections.  The  product  would  seem  to  have  been 
lead  acetate  and  not  white  lead ;  or  at  least  a  mixture,  in 
which  the  acetate  was  in  large  excess.  The  directions  for 
drying  would  lead  us  to  infer  that  the  lead  when  taken 
from  the  jar  contained  a  notable  quantity  of  moisture, 
which  must  have  held  lead  acetate  in  solution.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  Eraclius  in  another  place  recom- 
mends the  use  of  decomposing  dung  to  furnish  heat  in  aid 
of  chemical  action.  He  describes  a  process  for  making  a 
green  as  follows  :  "  Mix  vinegar  with  strong  honey,  and 
then  cover  up  the  vase  itself  in  very  hot  dung,  and  so 

1  See  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  1  et  seq. 

2  Eraclius,  De  Coloribus  et  Artibus  Romanorum,  translated  by  Mrs.  Mem- 
field  in  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  236. 


228  WHITE  LEAD, 

take  it  out  after  twelve  days  have  elapsed.1  This  recipe 
occurs  in  the  "  First  Metrical  Book/'  of  Eraclius,  which  is 
acknowledged  to  be  the  earliest  portion  of  the  manuscript, 
and  is  thought  by  many  authorities  to  antedate  Theophi- 
lus  and  the  manuscript  entitled  "Mappae  Clavicula." 

The  use  of  white  lead  was  probably  very  general  in  the 
time  of  Eraclius.  Artists  painted  their  pictures  upon 
panels  of  wood,  and  not  upon  canvas  as  is  the  custom  to- 
day. The  preparation  of  these  panels  was  a  work  of  great 
care,  as  it  was  not  only  necessary  to  secure  a  perfectly 
smooth  surface,  but  the  wood  must  be  protected  from  the 
action  of  the  atmosphere.  Eraclius  describes  the  methods 
employed  to  secure  these  conditions  as  follows :  "  First 
make  the  wood  very  smooth,  by  scraping  it  and  rubbing  it 
down  with  shave  grass.  If  you  cannot  shave  down  the 
inequalities  in  this  way,  and  do  not  wish  to  cover  it  with 
leather  or  with  cloth,  grind  dry  white  lead  upon  a  stone, 
but  not  so  finely  as  if  you  were  going  to  paint  with  it ; 
then  melt  wax  over  the  fire  in  a  vase,  add  tiles  finely 
ground,  then  mix  it  with  the  white  lead  you  have  ground, 
stirring  it  frequently  with  a  stick,  and  so  let  it  cool ;  then 
heat  an  iron,  and  with  it  melt  the  wax  into  the  little 
fissures  until  they  are  level,  and  then  scrape  the  rough 
parts  with  a  knife.  When  you  have  made  it  smooth  mix 
plenty  of  white  lead,  very  finely  ground  with  linseed  oil, 
and  lay  on  an  excessively  thin  coat  of  it  wherever  you 
intend  to  paint  with  a  brush,  made  of  ass's-hair,  adapted 
for  that  purpose.  When  this  is  done  lay  on,  as  you  did 
before,  another  and  thicker  coat  of  it,  —  not  thicker  by 
having  a  greater  quantity  of  color,  but  by  having  les*s  oil 
in  it ;  for  you  must  take  care  never  to  lay  on  the  color  too 
fat,  for  if  you  do  this,  and  lay  on  a  great  deal  of  it,  when 
it  begins  to  dry  wrinkles  will  form  on  the  surface  of  it." 2 

1  Eraclius,  De  Coloribus,  etc.,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  194. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  230. 


EIGHTH  TO   TWELFTH  CENTURY.  229 

Eraclius  recommends  the  following  method  for  prepar- 
ing a  column  for  painting :  "  First  let  it  dry  perfectly  in 
the  sun,  or  before  a  fire  ;  now  take  white  and  grind  it  finely 
with  oil  upon  a  marble  slab  ;  afterwards  lay  on  the  column 
two  or  three  coats  of  that  white  with  a  broad  paint-brush ; 
then  rub  very  stiff  white  over  it  with  your  hand,  or  with  a 
brush,  and  let  it  remain  a  short  time.  When  tolerably  dry 
press  your  hand  strongly  over  the  whole  surface,  drawing 
your  hand  towards  you.  Continue  this  until  it  is  as  smooth 
as  glass.  You  will  then  be  able  to  paint  upon  it  with  all 
colors  mixed  with  oil."  1  In  this  manuscript  there  may  be 
found  directions  for  glazing  earthenware  with  lead,  for 
making  lead-glass,  and  for  the  preparation  of  oil  for  paint- 
ing, its  siccative  qualities  being  improved  by  the  addition  of 
white-lead,  and  by  subjecting  it  to  heat.  Eraclius  describes 
at  some  length  formulae  to  be  employed  in  mixing  colors  to 
produce  certain  shades  and  tints,  and  it  is  noteworthy  that 
he  invariably  recommends  the  use  of  white  lead  as  the 
base  of  all  colors.2 

The  most  voluminous  and  satisfactory  of  all  existing 
copies  of  the  manuscripts  of  Theophilus  was  found  in  1844 
by  Mr.  Robert  Hendrie,  in  the  collection  known  as  the  Har- 
leian  manuscripts,  preserved  in  the  British  Museum.  Hen- 
drie translated  and  published  this  copy  in  1847.3  In  1843 
the  Count  Charles  de  L'Escalopier  published  in  Paris  a 
translation  of  the  copy  of  Theophilus  found  in  Trinity  Col- 
lege library,  Cambridge,  with  an  introduction  and  notes  by 
M.  J.  Marie  Guichard. 

As  above  remarked,  Lessing  places  Theophilus  as  early 

1  Eraclius,  De  Coloribus,  etc.,  translated  by  Mrs.  Merrifield  in  Original  Treat- 
ises, etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  230. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  256. 

8  Lessing  proposed  to  publish  the  Wolfenbiittel  and  Leipsic  copies,  but  his 
death  occurred  before  his  intentions  could  be  carried  out.  After  Lessing's  death 
Leiste  edited  it,  and  published  it  in  the  sixth  volume  of  his  "Collected  Works 
of  Lessing." 


230  WHITE  LEAD, 

as  the  ninth  century,  while  Guichard  contends  that  we 
must  not  ascribe  an  earlier  date  than  the  twelfth  or  thir- 
teenth centuries;  but  Hendrie  argues  at  length  in  favor 
of  an  earlier  period.  He  says :  "  While  Greece  was  the 
painter  of  the  continent,  Tuscany  the  enameller,  Arabia 
the  worker  in  metals,  Italy  the  jeweller,  France  the  worker  ^ 
in  glass,  Spain  the  chemist,  industrious  Germany  anxious 
in  acquiring  dexterity  or  knowledge  in  all,  —  when  all  these 
artists  had  constructed  and  were  adorning  the  Church  of 
St.  Mark  at  Venice,  and  were  occupied  in  western  Europe 
in  writing  or  painting  (the  terms  were  then  synonymous) 
the  sacred  histories  in  the  church,  so  that  the  illiterate 
might  read  the  examples  set  before  them,  the  treatise, 
'Diversarum  Artium  Schedula,'  came  forth."1  Hendrie 
therefore  ascribes  to  the  early  half  of  the  eleventh  century 
the  production  of  this  remarkable  work,  which  seems  to  be 
justly  entitled  to  be  termed  "  An  Encyclopaedia  of  Christian 
Art  in  the  Eleventh  Century." 

In  his  preface  Theophilus  styles  himself  "A  humble 
priest,  servant  of  the  servants  of  God,  unworthy  of  the 
name  and  profession  of  a  monk."  He  exhorts  those  in 
whose  hearts  God  has  placed  the  desire  to  explore  the  vast 
field  of  the  divers  arts  to  read  this  "  Book  of  Various 
Arts"  with  a  tenacious  memory,  and  to  embrace  it  with 
an  ardent  love,  promising,  if  it  is  carefully  perused,  that 
there  shall  be  found  out  whatever  Greece  possesses  in  kinds 
and  mixtures  of  various  colors ;  whatever  Tuscany  knows 
of  in  mosaic  work,  or  in  variety  of  enamel ;  whatever 
Arabia  shows  forth  in  work  of  fusion,  ductility,  or  chas- 
ing ;  whatever  Italy  ornaments  with  gold,  in  diversity  of 
vases,  and  sculpture,  of  gems,  or  ivory ;  whatever  France 
loves  in  a  costly  variety  of  windows ;  whatever  Germany 
approves  in  works  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  iron,  of 
woods,  and  of  stones.2 

1  Hendrie,  Translation  of  Theophilus,  p.  16.  2  Ibid.,  p.  51. 


EIGHTH   TO   TWELFTH   CENTURY.  231 

The  manuscript  of  Theophilus  is  indeed  "An  Encyclo- 
paedia of  Art."     He  treats  of  the  manufacture  of  colors, 
white  lead,  vermilion,  red  lead,   azures,    and  greens ;    of 
grinding  and  mixing  of  colors  in  oil,  and  in  gums ;  of  the 
manufacture   of    glue ;    of    the   preparation   and    use   of 
linseed  oil  in    painting;    the   manufacture  of    white  and 
colored    glass,  transparent  and  opaque  ;    the  building   of 
organs ;  the  construction  of  foundries,  with  particular  di- 
rections for  the  building  of  furnaces  for  various  purposes ; 
the  manufacture  of  tools ;  the  founding  of  bells,  and  the 
manufacture  of  musical  cymbals,  etc.     In  his  description  of 
the  manufacture  of  white  lead  Theophilus  refers  to  a  pre- 
vious description  of  the  manufacture  of  what  he  terms  salt- 
green,  which  is  as  follows  :  "  Take  oak  wood,  as  long  and  as 
large  as  you  like,  and  hollow  it  in  the  form  of  a  box ;  then 
take  copper  and  thin  it  into  leaves  as  broad  as  you  desire,  so 
however  that  its  length  may  cover  the  breadth  of  the  hol- 
low wood ;  after  this  take  a  plate  full  of  salt,  and  pressing 
it  down  strongly  cover  it  with  charcoal  for  a  night,  and  on 
the  morrow  grind  it  carefully  upon  a  dry  stone,  and  when 
you  have  taken  some  slender  twigs  place  them  together  in 
the  same  hollowed  wood,  so  that  two  parts  of  the  hollow 
are  below  and  the  third  part  is  above  them;  and  thus 
coating  the  copper-plates  on  both  sides  with  pure  honey, 
sprinkling  over  them  the  ground  salt,  you  will  fix  them, 
joined  together,  upon  the  twigs,  covering  carefully  with 
another  wood  fitted  for  this,  so  that  no  vapor  can  come 
out.    Afterwards  make  an  opening,  to  be  bored  in  an  angle 
of  the  same  wood,  through  which  you  can  pour  warm  vine- 
gar, or  hot  urine,  so  as  to  fill  a  third  part  of  it,  and  then 
close  the  passage.  You  should  put  this  wood  in  such  a  place 
that  you  can  cover  it  with  stable  dung.     After  four  weeks 
raise  the  covering,  and  scrape  off  and  keep  whatever  you  find 
upon  the  copper,  and  again  replacing  it  cover  it  as  above.1 

1  Hendrie,  Translation  of  Theophilus,  p.  47. 


232  WHITE  LEAD, 

The  next  recipe  describes  a  method  for  making  Spanish- 
green,  in  which  the  plates  of  copper  are  not  treated  with 
salt  and  honey,  but  scraped  carefully  on  both  sides,  and 
put  into  the  box  with  pure  and  warm  vinegar  "in  the 
order  above,"  referring  to  the  previous  recipe  for  making 
salt-green.  Theophilus  omits  all  further  directions  for 
treatment ;  but  says,  "  after  two  weeks  examine  and  scrape 
it,"  evidently  intending  that  the  treatment  shall  be  as  in 
the  previous  recipe  for  making  salt-green,  namely,  burying 
in  stable  dung. 

The  recipe  immediately  following  begins  — "  But  in 
making  ceruse  make  for  yourself  plates  of  lead  thinned, 
and  placing  them  together  dry  in  a  hollowed  piece  of 
wood,  as  the  copper,  hot  vinegar  or  urine  being  poured 
over  it,  cover  it ;  then  after  a  month  raise  the  cover, 
and  taking  away  whatever  white  there  is  replace  it  as 
before."1 

In  the  recipe  for  making  Spanish-green  Theophilus  omits 
to  direct  that  the  receptacle  in  which  the  copper  and  vine- 
gar are  placed  be  buried  in  stable  dung ;  and  he  also  omits 
this  necessary  direction  in  the  recipe  for  making  white 
lead.  After  describing  the  method  in  which  the  copper 
and  the  lead  should  be  prepared  and  placed  in  the  hollow 
wood  he  refers  to  the  preceding  recipes  for  directions  for 
further  treatment.  It  appears  therefore  that  the  direction 
to  bury  the  hollow  wood  in  stable  dung  is  omitted  merely 
to  save  a  tedious  repetition.  Accepting  this  suggestion  we 
have  in  this  description  the  recommendation  of  the  use  of 
fermenting  stable-litter  as  a  source  of  heat,  and  possibly  as 
one  source  of  the  carbon  dioxide  necessary  for  the  produc- 
tion of  true  white  lead.  There  can  be  no  question  of  the 
use  of  stable-litter  for  similar  purposes  in  the  manufacture 
of  salts-of-copper,  as  Eraclius,  as  well  as  Theophilus,  dis- 
tinctly recommends  it. 

1  Hendrie,  Translation  of  Theophilus,  p.  48. 


EIGHTH  TO  TWELFTH  CENTURY.  233 

Theophilus  gives  many  formulae  for  mixing  colors  to 
produce  different  shades  and  tints,  and  as  Eraclius,  recom- 
mends in  every  case  white  lead  as  the  base,  presumably  on 
account  of  its  great  opacity.  He  suggests  that  three 
coats  of  paint  be  applied  in  painting  upon  wood,  and  that 
it  should  be  dried  in  the  sun.  Ceruse,  minium,  and  car- 
mine he  directs  should  be  ground  and  laid  on  with  white 
of  egg.1 

The  author  of  "  Mappae  Clavicula  "  describes  the  process 
of  making  white  lead  as  follows  :  "  Cast  lead  into  plates  or 
sheets,  then  suspend  over  strong  vinegar.  After  it  is 
corroded  scrape  it  off  and  wash  well."  Another  method 
proposed  directs  that  lead  cast  in  plates  be  placed  in  a 
new  pot  partly  filled  with  vinegar,  the  pot  is  then  covered 
closely  and  put  in  a  warm  place,  and  left  undisturbed  for  a 
month.  Upon  opening  the  pot  the  corroded  lead  should  be 
removed  and  thoroughly  washed,  "  when  it  will  become 
as  white  as  snow."2 

Some  years  since,  Didron  found  in  a  convent  at  Mount 
Athos,  in  Greece,  a  manuscript,  portions  of  which  the  monks 
claimed  to  be  unquestionably  of  Byzantine  origin,  and 
copied  as  early  as  the  tenth  or  the  eleventh  century.  The 
manuscript  had  received  additions  from  time  to  time,  and 
copies  had  been  frequently  made  from  it  for  distribution  to 
other  religious  houses.  The  manuscript  was  preserved  with 
miserly  care,  and  Didron  experienced  great  difficulty  in  ob- 
taining a  copy  of  it.  The  title  of  this  work  is  "  The  Guide 
to  Painting,"  by  Dionysius,  monk,  of  Fournand  d'Agrapha. 

1  Henclrie,  Translation  of  Theophilus,  pp.  3,  35. 

2  Archseologia,  vol.  xxxii.,  article  by  Phillips.     A  curious  recipe  :  "  To  Make 
a  Picture  Water-  proof "  is  found  in  this  MS.     The  author  says  :  "Spread  the  oil 
called  cicinum  over  the  picture  in  the  sun,  and  it  will  be  fixed  so  it  can  never  be 
effaced."      Cicinum,  the  oleo  cicinum  of  the    Egyptians,  from  Ricinus  com- 
munis,  our  castor-oil  plant,  is  a  very  slow-drying  oil,  hardly  classed  among  the 
drying-oils  by  those  familiar  with  its  properties,  and  would  scarcely  be  used  now 
for  such  a  purpose. 


234  WHITE  LEAD, 

The  following  directions  are  found  in  this  manuscript  un- 
der the  title,  "  How  to  Make  Ceruse  "  :  Take  lead  cut  into 
thin  pieces,  and  suspend  these  pieces  in  a  pot  filled  with 
vinegar ;  close  tightly  this  pot,  and  bury  it  in  fresh  dung 
in  a  warm  place.  At  the  end  of  ten  or  fifteen  days  take  up 
the  pot  and  throw  the  lead  upon  a  stone  and  grind  it ;  put 
the  product  in  a  large  vase  and  dry  it,  and  you  will-  have 
a  good  ceruse.  The  author  states  that  ceruse  is  better  if 
it  is  ground  in  nut-oil.1 

The  descriptions  of  the  methods  employed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  white  lead  found  in  these  old  manuscripts  form  a 
connecting  link  between  the  methods  described  by  the  old 
Roman  and  Greek  authors  and  those  observed  in  modern 
practice.  While  in  a  general  way  they  resemble  the  meth- 
ods recommended  by  Theophrastus,  Vitruvius,  and  Pliny, 
so  much  so  as  to  lead  to  the  inference  that  the  differences 
are  only  such  as  would  naturally  occur  in  their  transmis- 
sion by  copying  from  manuscript  to  manuscript  through 
ten  centuries,  yet  Theophilus  and  Eraclius  both  imply  that 
dung  was  used  as  a  means  of  producing  the  necessary  heat, 
and  both  authors  mention  the  use  of  linseed  oil  as  a  vehicle 
for  spreading  the  paint.  The  same  objections  may  be  made 
to  the  methods  of  Theophilus  and  Eraclius  as  has  been 
noticed  respecting  those  of  the  earlier  writers,  the  absence 
of  any  clue  to  provisions  for  supplying  carbon  dioxide. 
The  same  suggestion  may  be  made  to  cover  the  objection 
in  this  case.  The  vinegar  was  probably  largely  contami- 
nated with  substances  which  produced  by  their  decomposi- 
tion carbon  dioxide  in  notable  quantities.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  respecting  the  product  of  the  operations  described 

1  M.  Didron  et  Dr.  Paul  Durand,  Manuel  d'Iconographie  Chretienne,  Grecque 
et  Latine,  traduit  du  MS.  Byzantine,  etc.  (Paris,  1845),  pp.  34,  48.  This 
manuscript  is  probably  a  copy  of  an  older  MS.,  compiled  by  the  monk  Dionysius 
from  the  works  of  Manuel  Pauselinos,  of  Thessalonica,  a  painter  who  nourished 
in  the  twelfth  century.  A  recommendation  of  lefard  du  Venise>  or  k  bonfard 
du  France,  is  probably  a  modern  interpolation. 


EIGHTH  TO  TWELFTH   CENTURY.  235 

• 

by  Theophilus  and  Eraclius.  Lead  acetate  might  be  made 
to  answer  as  a  pigment  by  mixing  it  with  white  of  egg ; 
but  it  would  certainly  fail  to  remain  white,  and  would  be 
devoid  of  opacity,  and  utterly  useless  as  a  pigment  if  mixed 
with  linseed  oil.  Theophilus  recommends  that  ceruse, 
minium,  and  carmine  be  ground  in  and  laid  on  with  white 
of  egg ;  but  Theophilus  was  fully  acquainted  with  the 
characteristics  of  linseed  oil,  describes  the  method  of  its 
manufacture,  which  is  precisely  like  that  in  use  to-day,  and 
recommends  its  use  in  grinding  and  applying  pigments. 
Eraclius,  who  is  thought  by  some  to  have  written  earlier 
than  Theophilus,  gives  elaborate  directions  for  grinding 
white  lead  in  linseed  oil,  and  recommends  its  use  in  spread- 
ing this  pigment.  There  can  scarcely  be  a  question  that 
in  the  time  of  Theophilus  and  Eraclius  true  white  lead 
was  produced,  and  was  used  in  painting  in  notable  quanti- 
ties. It  cannot  be  supposed  that  any  of  the  writers  and 
compilers  upon  this  subject  heretofore  quoted  were  practi- 
cally familiar  with  the  details  of  all  the  processes  de- 
scribed by  them.  We  have  seen  that  Alcherius,  seventeen 
hundred  years  after  Theophrastus,  and  many  centuries  sub- 
sequent to  Eraclius,  passed  the  greater  portion  of  his  life 
in  journeying  from  place  to  place  and  collecting  his 
recipes.  The  work  must  have  been  much  easier  in  his 
time  than  in  the  period  when  Theophrastus  and  Eraclius 
flourished.  The  methods  described  by  Theophilus,  Eraclius, 
and  the  author  of  "  Mappae  Clavicula "  are  purely  em- 
pirical, and  were  collected  by  them  in  their  travels  in 
southern  Europe,  or  copied  from  manuscripts  and  recipes 
secured  in  their  visits  to  Italian  monastic  establishments, 
where  they  had  survived  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
the  dark  ages. 

Eastlake  refers  to  the  interesting  fact  that  a  connection 
has  always  existed  between  Materia  Medica  and  materials 
used  in  painting.  A  reason  for  this  connection  may  be 


236  WHITE  LEAD, 

traced,  perhaps,  if  we  remember  that  in  ancient  times  the 
salts-of-lead,  and  other  substances  used  in  painting  were, 
as  now,  also  employed  as  remedial  agents.  The  ancient 
accounts  of  the  preparation  of  white  lead,  red  lead,  lith- 
arge, and  other  pigments,  are  generally  found  in  works 
treating  principally  of  Materia  Medica ;  and  the  early  refer- 
ences to  these  substances  are  not  limited  to  their  use  in 
medicine,  but  indicate  also  their  employment  in  decora- 
tive art.  The  Greeks  applied  the  word  pharmakeia  to 
substances  commonly  used  in  painting,  and  the  Romans 
used  the  word  medicamen  in  the  same  sense. 

The  monks  preserved  during  several  centuries  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  arts  and  sciences  which  was  absolutely  de- 
stroyed in  secular  life,  and  the  establishment  of  monastic 
dispensaries,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  sciences  of  chem- 
istry and  botany  rendered  the  friars  familiar  with  the 
properties,  as  well  as  with  the  manufacture  of  many  sub- 
stances common  to  the  arts  of  medicine  and  painting.  The 
monks  for  many  centuries  were  not  alone  the  only  manu- 
facturers of  many  pigments,  but  they  were  also  the  only 
painters,  practising  the  latter  art  in  common  with  others 
in  the  construction  and  in  the  decoration  of  their  establish- 
ments. Their  monasteries  were  supplied  with  furnaces  and 
appliances  for  the  manufacture  of  glass,  and  with  chemical 
and  other  apparatus  for  the  preparation  of  pigments  and 
remedial  agents.  For  many  centuries  pigments  and  ma- 
terials used  for  painting  were  only  to  be  obtained  of  the 
monks ;  but  in  the  thirteenth  century  they  seem  to  have 
been  gradually  relinquishing  their  monopoly,  for  at  this 
time  the  limited  demand  for  these  substances  was  princi- 
pally supplied  by  the  apothecaries.1 

The  dealers  in  drugs  and  herbs  used  in  medicine,  and 
of  pigments  and  materials  used  in  painting,  were  called 
pigmentarii,  seplasiarii,  pharmacopolae,  medicamentarii,  in 

1  See  Eastlake,  History  of  Painting,  introduction,  p.  4  et  seq. 


EIGHTH  TO  TWELFTH  CENTURY.  237 

Home,  in  the  middle  ages.  The  word  apotheca  signified 
any  kind  of  store,  or  warehouse,  and  the  keeper  was  called 
apothecarius.1 

Eastlake  refers  to  the  purchase,  in  1274,  of  painting- 
materials  to  decorate  St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  of  Koberto  de 
Hakeneye,  speciario,  and  in  a  manuscript  dated  Turin, 
1315,  colors  and  painting-material  are  mentioned  as  having 
been  bought  of  an  apothecary.2  Tambroni,  in  his  introduc- 
tion to  the  translation  of  the  manuscript  of  Cennino  Cen- 
nini, says  that  the  painters  of  the  time  of  Cennini  — 1350- 
1437  —  purchased  their  pigments  of  the  apothecaries.3 

In  later  times  materials  for  painting  were  unquestion- 
ably sold  by  the  apothecaries.  An  old  black-letter  treatise 
in  the  British  Museum  refers  to  the  poticaries  "  for  all 
such  colours,  and  other  things  as  are  mentioned  and  con- 
tained in  this  present  'Booke  of  Limming.'  " 4  Huet  says : 
"The  Dutch  send  to  France  drugs,  as  well  for  medicine 
as  for  painting,"  and  "  they  dispose  of  in  Spain  a  consid- 
erable quantity  of  drugs,  both  for  the  apothecaries'  and  the 
painters'  use."  5 

1  Beckmann  remarks  that  "  it  would  be  a  mistake   if  in  the  writings  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  where  these  expressions  occur,  we  should  un- 
derstand under  the  latter  apothecaries  such  as  ours  are  at  present.7'     He  is  of 
the  opinion,  however,  that  the  physicians  in  Africa  first  began  to  give  up  the 
preparation  of  their  prescriptions  to  other  men,  and   that  this  was  customary 
as  early  as  the  eleventh  century.     In  many  cases  the  first  apothecary-shops 
were  established  at  the  public  expense,  and  belonged  to  the  magistrates.     The 
first  English  apothecary  flourished  in   1345.     In  France  no  mention  is  made 
of  them  until  1484.     In  Germany  they  are  noticed  at  about  the  same  date, 
though    some  have  maintained  that    they  existed  as  early  as  the  thirteenth 
century.     They  were  probably  recognized  as  a  separate  class  much  earlier  south 
of  the  Alps.     See  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  vol.  i.  p.  328  et  seq. 

2  Eastlake,  History  of  Painting,  vol.  i.  p.  11. 

8  Cennini,  Treatise  on  Painting,  translated  by  Mrs.  Merrifield,  introduction 
by  Tambroni. 

4  A  Very  Proper  Treatise,  wherein  is  breefely  sett  forth  the  Arte  of  Limming, 
imprinted  at  London,  in  Flete  Street,  within  Temple  Barre,  at  the  sign  of  the 
Hunde  and  Harre,  by  Richard  Totthill,  1581. 

6  M.  Huet,  A  View  of  the  Dutch  Trade  (London,  1722),  pp.  78,  87. 


238  WHITE  LEAD. 

The  connection  between  Materia  Medica  and  materials 
used  in  painting  has  persisted  until  the  present  day,  when, 
except  in  populous  centres  where  establishments  expressly 
devoted  to  this  branch  of  business  may  be  found,  materials 
for  painting  are  supplied  by  the  apothecaries. 


CHAPTER  XL 

WHITE  LEAD,  TWELFTH  TO  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

AN  inquiry  into  the  development  of  the  manufacture 
and  of  the  use  of  white  lead,  from  the  eleventh  to 
the  seventeenth  century,  shows  the  progress  of  modern  civi- 
lization. Where  this  substance  is  most  in  favor,  whether 
for  the  expression  of  the  highest  type  of  art,  or  for  the 
decoration  of  public  or  private  buildings,  we  find  the  high- 
est type  of  culture  and  refinement.  We  can  perhaps  ar- 
rive at  a  better  understanding  of  the  development  of  this 
industry  during  the  period  above  referred  to,  if  we  briefly 
consider  the  changes  that  occurred  in  the  social  condition 
of  Europe,  and  glance  at  the  development  in  trade  and 
commerce  which  began  at  the  time  of  the  great  Revival 
in  progress  in  the  eleventh  century. 

The  character  of  the  architecture  of  the  early  centuries 
of  the  middle  ages  was  generally  simple  and  primitive. 
The  first  church  built  of  stone  in  the  British  Islands 
was  erected  about  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century  by 
Ninian,  a  British  priest,  on  a  small  island  on  the  coast 
of  Galloway.  The  second  was  founded  at  York  about 
628,  by  Edwin,  king  of  Northumberland,  who  died  before 
its  completion.  It  was  finished  by  Bishop  Wilfrid,  who 
covered  the  roof  with  lead  and  filled  the  windows  with 
glass,  "  which,  while  it  excluded  the  birds  and  the  rain, 
admitted  light  into  the  church."  l  Secular  architecture 

1  Macpherson,  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  i.  pp.  214,  238. 


240  WHITE  LEAD, 

showed  no  improvement  until  the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth 
century.  The  castles,  which  were  the  residences  of  the 
nobility,  were  mere  strongholds  erected  especially  for 
defence ;  they  were  built  upon  commanding  sites,  were 
provided  with  walls  of  immense  thickness,  strong  gates, 
and  the  openings,  especially  in  the  lower  stories,  were 
few,  and  were  mere  slits  or  loopholes  ;  those  in  the  upper 
stories  were  but  little  better,  unglazed  and  closed  perhaps 
by  a  shutter  of  stone.  In  later  times  other  buildings, 
more  convenient  and  appropriate  as  habitations,  were 
erected  and  connected  with  these  keeps  or  towers,  the 
whole  forming  a  fortified  square  with  a  court  in  the 
centre.  These  connecting  buildings  usually  had  larger 
windows  on  the  side  facing  the  court,  but  the  openings 
on  the  outer  side  were  narrow.  In  still  later  times,  the 
residences  of  the  great  nobles  were  strong  buildings  of 
stone  or  brick  provided  with  towers  and  battlements,  and 
forming  one  or  two  sides  of  a  square,  the  other  sides  being 
occupied  by  the  stables  and  outbuildings.1 

The  dwellings  of  the  gentry  in  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries  were  rarely  of  more  than  two  stories,  — 
the  lower  one  prepared  for  defence  and  provided  with 
narrow  apertures,  while  access  to  the  upper  was  by  means 
of  a  stairway  built  on  the  outside.  The  lower  story  was 
occasionally  built  of  stone,  but  generally  these  houses 
were  entirely  constructed  of  heavy  timber,  the  interstices 
being  filled  with  plank  and  cement.  The  interior  walls 
at  first  were  bare,  not  even  plastered  ;  but  later  the  prin- 
cipal rooms  in  the  houses  of  the  wealthy  were  hung  with 
tapestry.  Chimneys  were  not  generally  introduced  until 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries ;  at  this  period  glass 
windows  were  uncommon  except  in  the  churches,  palaces 
of  the  royal  family,  and  in  the  houses  of  the  more  power- 
ful nobles.  As  late  as  the  fifteenth  century  glass  windows 

1  See  Hallam,  Middle  Ages,  vol.  iii.  p.  331. 


TWELFTH  TO  SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY.  241 

were  considered  as  movable  furniture.1  The  furniture 
of  the  houses  of  the  wealthy  was  of  the  simplest  descrip- 
tion. Chairs  were  rarely  seen,  and  mirrors  were  almost 
unknown.  The  rich  possessed  one  or  two  beds,  but  the 
custom  at  this  time  was  to  sleep  upon  a  mattress  placed 
upon  the  floor.  In  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries 
the  dwelling-houses  in  London  were  rarely  of  more  than 
one  story.  The  dwellings  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes 
were  of  wood  or  of  wattles,  generally  of  one  story,  and 
without  chimney  or  glazed  windows.  "  At  this  early 
period,"  observes  Walpole,  "  there  was  no  medium  between 
castles  and  hovels."  2 

Such  a  condition  of  domestic  architecture  furnished 
little  encouragement  for  decoration,  and  we  find  few  ref- 
erences to  the  use  of  pigments  for  decorative  purposes  for 
private  dwellings.  The  exteriors  of  some  of  the  castles 
were  whitewashed,  and  a  manuscript  of  the  period  referred 
to  by  Mrs.  Merrifield  indicates  that  they  were  occasionally 
painted.  The  interiors  of  public  buildings  were  frequently 
elaborately  decorated.  There  is  preserved  in  England  the 
"  Rotuli  Litterarum  Clausarum  "  or  Close  Rolls,  a  series  of 
parchment  rolls  upon  which  are  recorded  the  mandates, 
writs,  and  letters  of  a  private  nature,  of  some  of  the 
early  kings  of  England.  The  orders  on  these  rolls  begin 
with  the  sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  King  John,  —  1204. 
Many  curious  entries  refer  to  the  purchase  of  pigments 
and  materials  used  for  painting,  and  indicate  the  charac- 
ter of  the  work  done,  as  well  as  its  cost.  In  the  twelfth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  (1228)  an  order  to  the 
treasurer  commanded  the  payment  to  a  certain  painter  of 
twenty  shillings  for  painting  the  great  exchequer-chamber. 
Walpole  thought  the  decoration  must  have  been  more 
elaborate  than  the  work  of  a  house-painter,  as  at  that 

1  Hallam,  Middle  Ages,  vol.  iii.  p.  331. 

2  Horace  Walpole,  Anecdotes  of  Painting  in  England,  vol.  i.  p.  22. 

16 


242  WHITE  LEAD, 

time  the  sum  would  be  a  large  one  for  simply  painting 
wainscot.  In  1236  the  same  sovereign  ordered  that  his 
great  chamber  at  Winchester  "  be  painted  a  good  green 
color,  so  as  to  resemble  a  curtain,"  and  in  the  great  win- 
dow of  the  same  chamber  he  directed  this  motto  to  be 
painted :  "  He  who  gives  not  what  he  has  receives  not 
what  he  wishes  for."  The  king's  small  wardrobe  was 
likewise  ordered  to  be  painted  green  "  like  a  curtain." 
In  the  same  year  the  "  bordure  "  of  the  king's  and  queen's 
seats  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Stephen  at  Westminster  were 
ordered  to  be  painted  green.  This  was  a  favorite  color 
with  the  monarch ;  for  two  years  later  the  sheriff  of 
Southampton  was  directed  to  cause  the  chamber  at  Win- 
chester to  be  painted  green.  Another  item  shows  the  use 
of  oil  in  painting.  The  treasurer  and  chamberlain  are 
directed  to  pay  to  Odo,  the  goldsmith,  and  Edward,  his 
son,  one  hundred  and  seventeen  shillings  and  ten  pence 
for  oil,  varnish,  and  colors  bought  of  them,  and  for  pict- 
ures made  in  the  queen's  chamber  at  Westminster. 

The  decoration  of  interiors  at  this  period  consisted 
principally  in  painting  upon  the  walls  pictures  represent- 
ing historical  or  sacred  subjects,  but  wainscot  was  some- 
times painted.  Columns  were  frequently  decorated  in  this 
manner,  and  painting  to  represent  a  curtain  is  often  re- 
ferred to.  This  style  of  decoration  was  now  first  used  in 
the  houses  and  castles  of  the  nobles.  The  great  halls  and 
rooms  were  hung  with  tapestry  or  decorated  with  colors, 
and  their  ceilings  were  painted  green  or  blue  and  studded 
with  stars. 

In  1292  the  chapel  of  Saint  Stephen  was  repaired  and 
painted.  The  wages  of  the  principal  painter  at  this  time 
was  Ud.  per  day ;  two  subordinates,  Andrew  and  Giletto 
(Italians),  were  paid  6d.  and  Sd.  per  day.  White  lead,  red 
lead,  and  oil  are  repeatedly  mentioned  in  the  accounts  of 
the  period.  White  lead  was  charged  at  l%d.  per  pound, 


TWELFTH  TO  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.      243 

red  lead  at  2d.,  and  oil  at  5d.  to  66?.  per  "  pottle."  Edward 
III.  destroyed  the  chapel  of  Saint  Stephen  in  1352,  and  in 
rebuilding  it  more  magnificently  pressed  all  the  painters 
in  Kent,  Middlesex,  Essex,  Surrey,  and  other  counties 
into  service  to  assist  in  its  decoration.  Among  the  items 
for  material  for  decorating  this  chapel,  the  following 
appear :  — 

19  Ibs.  white  lead  for  priming  @  4d.  £0    6s.    4d 
4  Flagons  of  Painter's  Oil  0  16s.    0 

62  Ibs.  Red  Lead  @  5d.        1    5s.  10 

$  Ib.  Red  Lead  8 

Item  :  To  John  Lightgrave. 

51  Ibs.  White  Lead  @  2£d.  £0  10.  7i 

53    u    White  Lead  @  tyd.         15.  5 

43    "    Red  Lead  @  4d.  14.  6 

3    "    White  Lead  1.0 

Eastlake  directs  attention  to  the  large  quantities  of  oil 
purchased  at  this  time,  and  thinks  that  the  character  of 
the  decoration  did  not  consist  merely  of  historical  pictures 
or  those  illustrating  sacred  subjects,  but  that  walls,  columns, 
and  ceilings  of  palaces  and  public  buildings  were  painted  in 
colors.1 

In  continental  Europe  during  this  period  the  state  of 
society  was  much  the  same  as  in  England.  The  character 
of  secular  architecture,  except  in  some  important  and 
growing  walled  cities  and  towns,  differed  very  little  from 
that  described  as  prevailing  in  Great  Britain. 

A  great  revival  of  commerce  followed  the  inauguration 
of  the  Crusades.  After  the  dismemberment  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  the  little  commerce  which  existed  with  the  East 
was  principally  carried  on  through  Constantinople.  The 
Italian  cities,  however,  and  more  especially  Venice,  began 
in  the  ninth  or  tenth  century  to  push  their  trading-voyages 

1  See  Eastlake,  History  of  Painting,  vol.  i.  pp.  50,  61  ;  Hendrie,  Translation 
of  Theophilus,  pp.  71 ,  72  ;  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  p.  24. 


244  WHITE  LEAD, 

to  the  ports  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean. 
But  the  revival  began  with  the  Crusades,  which  not  only 
revolutionized  commerce,  but  produced  a  marked  change 
in  the  social  condition  of  the  times. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  great  throngs 
of  pilgrims  followed  the  valley  of  the  Danube  on  their  way 
to  the  Holy  Land,  while  other  hosts  reached  the  shores  of 
Asia  Minor  by  sea  from  ports  on  the  Mediterranean.  The 
contact  of  the  Northern  pilgrims  with  the  luxury  of  the 
Orient  developed  in  them  new  tastes  and  desires  which 
they  were  enabled  to  gratify  at  a  moderate  cost  in  the 
bazaars  of  the  East.1 

The  Italian  cities  were  the  first  to  feel  the  force  and 
effect  of  the  great  social  and  commercial  revolution  pro- 
duced by  this  stream  of  travel.  Venice,  Genoa,  Pisa,  and 
afterwards  Florence,  became  the  seats  of  great  commercial 
houses,  who  sent  their  galleys  into  the  ports  of  the  civilized 
world.  In  1202  the  Venetians  supplied  the  French  cru- 
saders with  a  fleet  of  more  than  two  hundred  and  eighty 
vessels,  to  transport  them  to  the  Holy  Land.  The  siege 
and  capture  of  Constantinople  by  the  Venetians,  assisted 
by  the  Crusaders,  gave  the  entire  trade  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean to  the  merchants  of  Venice.  The  Venetians  retained 
this  trade  for  nearly  three  hundred  years ;  they  engaged 
largely  in  the  manufacture  of  silks  and  of  other  stuffs,  and 
their  products  were  celebrated  throughout  the  world.  In 
1492,  according  to  Macpherson,  their  commerce  was  equal 
to  that  of  all  the  rest  of  Europe.2 

The  Italian  merchants  established  their  factories  or  trad- 
ing-houses in  every  principal  port  on  the  Mediterranean. 
They  waged  war,  made  treaties,  and  wherever  possible 
secured  commercial  advantages  over  their  rivals.  They 
monopolized  the  trade  of  the  Orient,  and  controlled  the 

1  See  Pigeonneau,  Histoire  du  Commerce  de  la  France,  first  pt.  p.  126  et  seq. 

2  Macpherson,  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  i.  pp.  368,  719. 


TWELFTH  TO  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.      245 

productions  and  manufactures  of  Persia  and  of  other  Asiatic 
nations,  and  distributed  them  throughout  Europe. 

The  lack  of  regular  means  of  transportation,  the  in- 
terrupted and  dangerous  intercourse  between  merchants  of 
different  nations,  owing  to  piracy  on  the  sea,  and  robbery 
upon  the  highways,  led,  in  very  early  times,  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  great  fairs,  where  merchants  from  distant  coun- 
tries could  meet  periodically  for  the  exchange  of  their 
commodities.  In  472  fairs  were  appointed  in  Italy;  about 
the  year  800  Charlemagne  established  fairs  at  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle  and  at  Troves.1  The  manufacture  of  cloths  had  be- 
come well  established  in  Flanders  in  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  and  the  Italian  merchants  met  the 
Flemings  at  the  great  fairs  held  at  Champagne  in 
France,  and  exchanged  the  spices  of  the  Orient  for  the 
stuffs  of  Flanders.  Many  Italians  afterwards  visited  the 
Low  Countries,  making  their  way  over  the  Alps  and 
through  France,  but  soon  adopted  the  easier  and  nearer 
route  through  Germany,  by  Basle  and  Cologne,  or  by  Nu- 
remberg. This  exchange  of  commodities  increased  until 
the  trade  between  these  people  attained  a  high  degree  of 
prosperity.  Finally,  Venice  and  Genoa  determined  to  or- 
ganize a  regular  annual  service  by  sea  with  the  Low  Coun- 
ries,  and  sent  their  galleys  loaded  with  the  products  of  the 
Orient  to  Antwerp.  It  is  impossible  to  fix  a  date  for  the 
inauguration  of  this  important  event ;  but  in  1224  the  rec- 
ords of  the  city  of  Antwerp  show  the  presence  in  its  port  of 
a  Genoese  galley,  and  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  existence  of 
regular  service  between  Venice  and  Antwerp  in  1318,  as  in 
the  month  of  May  of  that  year  two  Venetian  galleys  en- 
tered the  port  of  Antwerp,  and  in  February,  1319,  three 
galleys  arrived  in  the  Scheldt  from  Venice.  The  cargo  of 

1  Macpherson,  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  i.  pp.  220,  250.  The  fairs  at 
Troyes  are  memorable  for  the  establishment  of  the  system  of  weights  which  is 
used  to-day  for  weighing  gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones. 


246  WHITE  LEAD, 

one  of  these  galleys  consisted  in  part  of  drugs  and  colors. 
According  to  Tambroni,  the  Venetians  at  this  early  day 
manufactured  or  prepared  in  Venice  drugs  and  colors,  which 
formed  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  their  trade  with  north- 
ern Europe. 

Many  Italian  commercial  houses  had  resident  agents  in 
the  Low  Countries  at  this  time.  Pegolotti,  an  agent  of  the 
house  of  Bardi,  resided  at  Antwerp  from  1315  to  1317. 
Antwerp  became  the  principal  emporium  for  the  exchange 
of  the  productions  of  northern  Europe  for  the  silks,  spices, 
dyes,  and  colors  of  the  Orient,  and  the  Italians  retained  a 
monopoly  of  this  valuable  trade  until  the  discovery  by  the 
Portuguese  in  the  sixteenth  century  of  the  passage  to  the 
Indies  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.1 

For  information  respecting  the  methods  employed  in 
the  manufacture  of  white  lead  during  the  thirteenth,  four- 
teenth', fifteenth,  and  sixteenth  centuries,  one  must  refer 
to  ancient  manuscripts ;  but,  unlike  those  noticed  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  the  dates  of  these  manuscripts  are  some- 
times definitely  known,  and  their  authorship  and  history 
are  not  entirely  subjects  of  conjecture.  The  methods  em- 
ployed by  artist-painters  during  this  period  in  preparing 
and  in  mixing  their  pigments,  were  copied  into  books  kept 
for  that  purpose  and  carefully  preserved  for  use  in  the 
studio.  Many  painters  had  methods  and  formulae  of  their 
own  discovery,  or  invention,  and  guarded  their  secrets 
with  jealous  care,  imparting  them  only  to  their  appren- 
tices, under  the  strictest  injunctions  of  secrecy.  The 
Flemish  and  the  Italian  painters  very  generally  ground 
and  prepared  their  colors  with  their  own  hands,  perhaps 
to  secure  absolute  purity  and  uniformity,  and  to  guard  the 
secret  of  their  preparation ;  and,  possibly,  because  at  that 

1  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol  i.  p.  23 ;  Cennino  Cennini, 
introduction  by  Tambroni,  p.  37  ;  Heyd,  Histoire  du  Commerce  du  Levant, 
vol.  ii.  p.  718  et  seq. 


TWELFTH  TO  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.      247 

time  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  some  of  the  pigments 
had  not  become  a  thoroughly  established  industry.  These 
manuscripts,  or  secretii,  as  they  were  termed,  were  used  by 
the  painters  as  memorandum-books,  and,  from  time  to  time, 
as  new  recipes  would  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  compiler, 
or  new  discoveries  or  inventions  were  made,  they  were 
entered ;  there  is  frequently  found,  therefore,  in  a  collec- 
tion of  old  formulae  and  recipes,  others  of  much  more 
modern  origin. 

Many  of  these  secretii  have  been  preserved,  and  are 
treasured  in  the  libraries  of  Europe.  An  examination  of 
them  shows  that  while  several  white  pigments  are  re- 
ferred to  as  having  been  used  by  the  painters  of  that  day, 
the  white  universally  recommended,  and  generally  em- 
ployed, was  white  lead.  It  is  mentioned  under  many 
names,  and  with  many  variations  of  orthography.  In  Italy, 
it  was  termed  blacha,  blachi,  biaca,  biacca,  biacha,  bracha, 
bianco  di  piombo,  ceruse,  cerusa,  cerussa,  cerusam,  cerusia, 
cirocis,  ceruza,  album  plumbum,  albo  plumbum,  albo  plombo. 
In  Germany,  it  was  called  obit,  abot,  aboit,  bleyweiss ;  in 
France  it  was  known  as  ceruse,  ceruse  d'Allemagne,  ceruse 
de  Krems,  blanc  de  Venise,  blanc  a" argent,  blanc  d'ecailles, 
blanc  en  ecailles.  In  Spain,  it  was  called  blanquet  and 
alb ay aide ;  a  manuscript  of  the  fourteenth  century,  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum,  refers  to  white  lead  as 
minium  album.  In  Arabic,  it  was  known  as  assidegi  or 
assidagi.1  With  the  earlier  writers,  and  even  in  a  manu- 
script of  the  seventeenth  century,  it  is  classed  among  the 
colors  which  do  not  dry  well,  notwithstanding  many  au- 
thorities recommend  its  addition  to  linseed  oil  to  increase 
the  siccative  qualities  of  that  vehicle,  universally  used 
in  modern  times  for  spreading  pigments.  Christopher 

1  See  Bourrasse,  Dictionnaire  d'Archeologie ;  also  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original 
Treatises,  etc. ;  also  Petri  Andreae  Matthioli,  Commentarii  Dioscoridis  De  Medica 
Materia  Venetiis,  1558. 


248  WHITE  LEAD, 

Ballard  mentions,  in  1682,  as  a  great  secret,  the  addition 
of  turpentine  to  white  lead  to  make  it  dry  well. 

Among  the  manuscripts  collected  by  Le  Begue  is  one  by 
Petrus  de  Sancto  Audemaro,  who  lived  in  the  north  of 
France,  late  in  the  thirteenth  or  early  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  Some  of  the  formulae  of  this  author  are  consid- 
ered to  be  much  older  than  his  time,  among  which  is  the 
following :  "  White  and  green  colors,  without  salt,  are 
made  and  tempered  as  follows :  pour  strong  vinegar  into 
a  vase  and  place  twigs  across  it  inside  the  vase,  and  then 
place  strips  of  lead,  and  other  strips  of  copper  or  brass, 
suspended  in  the  air  by  means  of  twigs,  so  as  not  to  touch 
the  vinegar  or  each  other ;  then  close  the  vase  very  care- 
fully and  lute  it  with  clay  or  cement  or  wax,  so  that  there 
may  not  be  the  least  hole  through  which  the  vinegar  may 
exhale.  Then  cover  it  with  horse-dung,  and  after  thirty 
days,  on  account  of  the  acidity  of  the  vinegar  or  wine  (for 
the  wine,  on  account  of  the  heat  of  the  dung,  will  become 
vinegar),  the  copper  or  brass  will  be  found  to  be  turned  green, 
and  the  lead  white.  Take  the  white  lead,  dry  it,  grind  it, 
temper  it  with  wine  to  paint  on  parchment,  and  mix  it  with 
oil  to  paint  on  wood."  l  The  vinegar  recommended  here  is 
probably  a  mixture  of  wine  lees  and  wine,  or  vinegar  in  which 
both  the  vinous  and  acetous  fermentation  had  begun,  but 
was  yet  incomplete.  Saint  Audemar  says,  "  The  wine,  on 
account  of  the  heat  of  the  dung,  will  become  vinegar." 
The  method,  therefore,  so  far  as  the  production  of  acetous 
vapors  and  carbon  dioxide  is  concerned,  is  precisely  like  that 
now  in  use  at  Klagenfurth,  in  Carinthia.  Saint  Audemar 
also  directs  that  the  vases  containing  the  lead  and  acid  be 
buried  in  beds  of  dung ;  and  in  describing  the  manufacture 
of  "  salt-green,"  which  was  produced  by  exposing  plates  of 
copper,  smeared  with  salt,  in  vases  containing  vinegar, 

1  Saint  Audemar,  De  Coloribus  Faciendis,  in  Mrs.  Merrifteld's  Original 
Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  120. 


TWELFTH  TO  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.      249 

and  buried  in  heaps  of  stable-litter,  lie  recommends  that 
the  operation  be  conducted  in  a  horse-stable.  This  author 
also  suggests  that  heaps  of  grape-skins  from  the  wine-press 
be  used  as  a  ferment  instead  of  horse-dung,  and  says  it  will 
produce  the  same  result. 

Eastlake  and  other  authorities  are  of  the  opinion  that 
the  date  of  the  manuscript  of  Saint  Audemar,  cannot  be 
later  than  the  end  of  the  thirteenth,  or  the  beginning  of 
the  fourteenth  century ;  and  it  is  also  thought  that  many 
of  his  recipes  are  much  older  than  his  time.  If,  therefore, 
there  may  be  a  question  as  to  the  use  of  stable-litter,  as  a 
ferment,  in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  the  time  of 
Eraclius,  and  Theophilus,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the 
employment  of  this  source  of  heat  in  the  thirteenth  or 
early  in  the  fourteenth  century.  An  additional  evidence 
that  ferments  were  used  at  a  much  earlier  period  as  a 
source  of  heat,  and  possibly  of  carbon  dioxide,  may  per- 
haps be  found  in  the  recommendation  of  the  use  of  grape- 
skins,  or  refuse  from  the  wine-press,  as  a  substitute  for 
stable-litter.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  the  utilization 
of  heaps  of  fermentable  material  for  similar  purposes  had 
been  practised  during  many  centuries. 

Cennino  Cennini,  a  painter,  who  lived  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  fourteenth  and  early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  left  a 
valuable  manuscript,  which  embodies  the  experiences  of 
two  generations  of  great  artists  in  the  preparation  and  in 
the  mixing  of  colors.  Only  three  copies  of  this  manuscript 
are  known  to  exist.  The  most  complete  was  discovered 
among  the  manuscripts  of  the  Vatican,  in  the  early  part 
of  this  century,  by  Tambroni.  It  was  translated  into 
Italian  by  him,  and  afterwards  into  English  by  Mrs.  Merri- 
field.  Cermini  says :  "  Biacca  (white  lead)  is  prepared 
chemically  from  lead,  and  is  a  strong  and  brilliant  color. 
It  is  sold  in  cakes  of  the  shape  of  drinking-glasses ;  always 
select  that  kind  the  top  of  which  is  in  the  form  of  a 


250  WHITE  LEAD, 

cup.  Grind  it  with  water  and  it  will  bear  any  tempera."1 
It  was  customary,  it  seems,  in  that  early  day  to  mould 
white  lead  into  small  conical  loaves,  by  pouring  the  pulp 
into  earthen  vessels,  and  drying  it  in  a  heated  room. 

This  method  of  preparing  white  lead  prevailed  in  some 
European  factories  until  very  recent  times.  Very  white, 
selected  lead,  was  put  up  in  conical  loaves,  or  shapes,  and 
covered  with  blue  paper.  The  custom  of  grinding  white 
lead  in  oil  by  the  manufacturer  is  of  very  recent  date; 
formerly,  all  lead  was  sold  in  the  dry  state,  and  the  paint- 
er, or  his  apprentices,  mixed  the  lead  with  oil  and  ground 
it  in  hand-mills,  or  on  a  marble  slab.  A  manuscript  pre- 
served in  the  library  of  the  convent  of  Saint  Salvatore,  in 
Bologna,  and  entitled  "  Segretti  per  Colori "  is  a  collection  of 
recipes  for  making  and  preparing  colors  for  painting,  dye- 
ing,  etc.  The  name  of  the  author  is  unknown,  but  the  date 
of  the  manuscript  is  considered  to  be  about  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  The  compiler  describes  the  manufac- 
ture of  white  lead  as  follows  :  "  Take  leaden  plates,  and 
suspend  them  over  the  vapor  of  vinegar  in  a  vase,  which, 
after  being  luted,  must  be  placed  in  dung  for  two  months  ; 
then  scrape  away  the  matter  that  you  will  find  upon  the 
plates,  which  is  the  white  lead.  Do  this  until  the  plates 
are  consumed."  The  author  of  this  treatise  adds  the  fol- 
lowing instructions  for  purifying  ceruse  :  u  Take  ceruse, 
put  it  in  a  clean  jar,  which  should  be  placed  over  the  fire, 
stir  the  ceruse  continually  with  a  stick,  and  it  will  become 
white."  He  also  adds  a  recipe  for  preparing  ceruse  for 
painting,  in  which  he  directs  that  the  ceruse  should  be 
well  washed  several  times  in  hot  water ;  then  gum-arabic 
and  white  incense  are  to  be  ground  together  in  clean  water, 
the  white  lead  added,  and  the  whole  finally  ground  to- 
gether,—  gum-water  being  added  "as  you  think  it  needs."2 

1  Cennino  Cennini,  translated  by  Mrs.  Merrifield,  p.  32. 

2  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  326,  484. 


TWELFTH  TO   SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  251 

A  manuscript  entitled  "  Secreti  Diversi,"  preserved  in  the 
library  of  San  Marco,  at  Venice,  is  another  collection  of 
recipes.  Its  date  is  considered  to  be  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  writer  recommends  the  use  of  "  good  white 
lead"  if  you  wish  to  make  a  good  white,  and  asserts  that 
horse-dung  is  the  best  ferment.1 

Mrs.  Merrifield  found  in  the  library  of  the  University 
of  Padua,  a  manuscript  entitled  "Kicette  Per  Far  Ogni 
Sorte  Di  Colori,"  which  she  states  to  be  certainly  Venetian, 
and  to  have  been  compiled  during  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  It  contains  a  description  of  a  process  for 
making  "  a  very  pure  white  lead,"  which  is  the  first  de- 
parture from  the  principles  described  by  Theophrastus, 
nearly  two  thousand  years  before.  The  author  says : 
"Take  the  calcined  lead  of  the  potters  —  litharge  —  in 
proper  quantity ;  pound  it  fine ;  pour  it  through  a  coarse 
sieve  of  silk,  and  having  placed  it  in  an  earthen  ves- 
sel with  very  strong  white  vinegar  (if  distilled  it  will 
be  better),  leave  it  for  three  or  four  days,  frequently  stir- 
ring it  and  letting  the  impurities  of  the  lead  go  to  the 
bottom.  Then  decant  the  vinegar,  and  pour  over  the  lees 
fresh  vinegar,  in  such  quantities  that  no  odor  may  proceed 
from  it,  and  that  the  precipitate  may  be  almost  black. 
Then  take  rain  or  well  water,  with  the  proper  quantity  of 
salt,  and  with  this  salt  water  precipitate  the  lead  which  is 
in  solution,  and  wash  it  with  common  water  until  it  has 
no  more  odor  or  savor.  Then  dry  it  by  placing  it  on 
leaves  of  blotting-paper  until  it  is  dry."2 

This  process  may  have  been  in  use  many  years  before 
its  description  found  a  place  in  the  Paduan  manuscript. 
Many  authors  of  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth 
centuries  describe  the  manufacture  of  greens  by  smearing 
plates  of  copper  with  salt  and  honey,  and  exposing  them 

1  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  610,  612. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  698. 


252  WHITE  LEAD, 

in  vases  containing  vinegar,  which  were  buried  in  heaps 
of  stable-litter  for  fifteen  to  sixty  days ;  but  none  refer  to  a 
method  of  preparing  white  lead  in  which  salt  is  used.  Saint 
Audemar  (1300  ?)  speaks  of  making  white  lead  without 
salty  but  in  this  case  he  refers  to  a  preceding  recipe,  in 
which  green  is  made  by  smearing  copper  with  salt  and 
exposing  it  to  acid  fumes.  The  method  recommended  by 
the  author  of  the  Paduan  manuscript  may  therefore  have 
been  unique,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  it  was  re- 
vived a  few  years  since,  and  patents  taken  out  for  it  in 
England  as  a  new  invention. 

Giovanni  Batista  Volpato,  born  in  Bassano,  in  1633, 
was  the  author  of  a  manuscript  entitled  "  Modo  Da  Tener 
nel  Dipinger,"  now  in  the  library  at  Bassano.  Volpato 
recommends  that  white  lead  be  ground  in  nut-oil,  and  that 
ground  colors  be  kept  in  folded  papers,  or  in  bladders,  but 
that  white  lead  should  be  preserved  in  a  vase  with  water. 
He  warns  painters  that  the  only  way  to  insure  purity  in 
their  colors  is  to  learn  the  process  of  their  manufacture, 
and  to  prepare  them  for  their  own  use,  "  as  the  vendors 
are  accustomed  to  falsify  everything."  a 

A  manuscript  now  in  the  Public  Library  at  Brussels, 
was  written,  in  1635,  by  Pierre  Le  Brun,  a  painter  who 
probably  resided  at  Paris.  Le  Brun  says  that  ceruse  is 
made  "  by  putting  vine-branches  in  butts,  pouring  vinegar 
over  them,  fixing  sheets  of  lead  on  the  top,  and  fastening 
them  up  air-tight."  He  mentions,  in  a  list  of  white  pig- 
ments, ceruse,  Nanc  de  Venise,  and  Wane  de  plomb,  as  if 
they  were  different  substances.  Writers  of  his  time  gen- 
erally refer  to  Venice  white  lead  as  being  the  best,  and  it 
is  probable  that  white  lead,  which  was  then  manufactured 
in  Holland  and  .perhaps  in  England,  was  largely  adul- 
terated, and  different  names  were  given  to  it,  each  indicat- 
ing a  certain  degree  of  impurity.  Le  Brun's  recipes  were 

1  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc..  vol.  ii.  pp.  740,  745. 


TWELFTH   TO  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  253 

carelessly  copied  or  culled  from  untrustworthy  sources. 
He  classes  white  lead  among  the  colors  which  do  not  dry 
well,  —  an  unpardonable  ignorance  in  that  day.  He  says, 
moreover,  that  white  lead  is  so  called  because  it  is  found 
in  lead  mines.  He  refers  to  a  fact  which  is  noticed  by 
several  of  the  authors  of  these  old  secretii,  the  improve- 
ment in  the  drying  qualities  of  colors  by  mixing  with 
them  ground  glass.  It  has  been  suggested  that  if  the 
glass  had  a  notable  amount  of  lead  in  its  composition, 
this  addition  would  possibly  produce  the  effect  claimed 
for  it.1 

Fra  Fortunato,  of  Rovigo  (1659-1711),  gives  the  follow- 
ing directions  for  making  white  lead  very  white :  "  Take 
scales  of  white  lead ;  select  the  finest  quality ;  grind  it 
well  on  marble,  with  vinegar,  and  it  will  become  black; 
then  take  an  earthen  vessel  full  of  water  and  wash  your 
white  well,  and  let  it  settle  to  the  bottom,  and  pour  off 
the  water ;  grind  it  again  with  vinegar,  and  again  wash 
it,  and  when  you  have  repeated  the  operation  three  or 
four  times,  you  will  have  white  lead  which  will  be  as  ex- 
cellent for  miniature  painting  as  for  painting  in  oil."  2 
In  later  times,  in  the  preparation  of  Kremserweiss,  white 
lead  was  treated  with  an  excess  of  acetic  acid,  to  give  it 
a  white  appearance  and  a  crystalline  texture.  The  effect 
of  this  treatment  was  to  make  it  more  hard  and  brittle, 
and  when  freshly  broken  the  newly  exposed  surfaces  had 
a  glassy  appearance.  The  possession  of  these  character- 
istics was  one  of  the  tests  the  finest  qualities  had  to  un- 
dergo. At  the  present  time  the  manufacturer  strives  to 
remove,  so  far  as  possible,  every  trace  of  acetic  acid. 

Eastlake  refers  to  the  fact  that  many  attempts  were 
made  by  artists  of  the  fifteenth  century  to  provide  a  sub- 
stitute for  white  lead.  Very  many  substances  were  tried, 

1  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  770  etseq. 
*  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  311. 


254  WHITE  LEAD. 

but  each,  after  a  short  time,  was  discarded.  They  were 
exceedingly  careful  in  the  preparation  of  this  pigment, 
refining  and  purifying  it  by  repeated  washings.  Many 
authorities  suggested  its  exposure  to  the  sun,  to  improve 
its  color ;  and  when  ground  in  oil,  it  was  recommended 
that  it  be  kept  under  water.1 

These  extracts  from  authentic  documents  show  conclu- 
sively that  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  was  commonly 
known  and  practised  in  England,  Italy,  France,  and  Flan- 
ders certainly,  and  probably  in  Germany  and  in  other 
countries  of  Europe,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  middle 
ages.  The  methods  of  manufacture  described  are,  with 
one  exception,  based  upon  the  principles  explained  by 
Theophrastus,  Vitruvius,  Pliny,  and  Dioscorides,  and  after- 
wards developed  in  the  writings  of  Eraclius  and  Theophi- 
lus ;  but  they  show  a  continued  improvement  in  technical 
knowledge,  —  such  a  development  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  material  advance  in  civilization  during  the  period 
under  consideration. 

1  Eastlake,  History  of  Painting,  vol.  i.  p.  437. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

WHITE   LEAD    IN   ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND   BELGIUM. 

IT  is  commonly  believed  that  the  Dutch  were  the  origi- 
nators of  that  method  of  manufacturing  white  lead 
which  is  termed  the  "  Dutch  process."  Modern  authori- 
ties very  generally  refer  to  the  Dutch  as  the  first  to  apply 
this  method ;  some,  however,  say  that  they  borrowed  it 
from  the  Saracens  in  Spain.  The  period  usually  referred 
to  for  the  establishment  of  the  industry  in  Holland  is  the 
sixteenth  century. 

At  the  time  of  the  great  Revival  in  the  twelfth  century 
Italy  took  a  leading  place  in  the  march  of  civilization  and 
progress,  and  for  nearly  three  hundred  years  held  her 
position  ;  during  this  period  her  cities  increased  in  wealth 
and  power,  and  were  at  the  zenith  of  their  prosperity. 
At  this  time  the  cultivation  of  the  arts  and  sciences  was 
revived,  and  she  became  the  centre  of  great  enthusiasm  in 
the  art  of  painting. 

Heyd,  Pigeonneau,  Tambroni,  and  other  authorities  as- 
sert that  the  Italians  had,  at  a  very  early  date,  a  monop- 
oly of  the  trade  with  Asia  and  that  of  the  Levant,  and  of 
the  drugs,  colors,  spices,  and  silks  produced  there,  and 
that  they  established  in  their  cities  the  manufacture  of 
silks,  colors,  and  pigments.  It  has  been  shown  elsewhere 
that  early  in  the  thirteenth  century  a  Venetian  galley 
arrived  at  Antwerp  with  a  cargo  consisting  in  part  of 
colors  and  drugs,  and  that  regular  service  by  sea  between 


256  WHITE  LEAD 

Antwerp  and  Venice  was  established  early  in  the  four- 
teenth century.  This  trade  in  drugs  and  pigments  con- 
tinued for  more  than  three  hundred  years.  Guicciardia, 
writing  in  1560,  says  :  "  The  Dutch  send  cloth,  wool,  linen, 
etc.,  to  Venice,  and  as  late  as  1518  five  Venetian  galeases 
arrived  at  Antwerp  laden  with  spices  and  drugs  for  the 
fair  there.  They  still,"  he  continues,  "  bring  from  Venice 
silks,  carpets,  stuffs,  and  colors,  both  for  dyers  and 
painters."  l  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  as  early  as  the 
thirteenth  century  the  Flemings  imported  by  sea  their 
silks,  drugs,  dye-stuffs,  and  pigments  from  Venice,  and 
that  they  continued  to  draw  their  supplies  of  these  sub- 
stances from  Italy  as  late  as  1560.  It  is  probable  that 
this  trade  was  established  much  earlier  than  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  that  at  the  great  fairs  in  France  and  Ger- 
many the  Flemish  weaver  exchanged  his  cloths  for  the 
drugs  and  pigments  of  Italy. 

At  about  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  Venetian  galley 
at  Antwerp  with  a  cargo  of  spices,  silks,  drugs,  and  colors, 
early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  a  few  rude  huts  were 
built  on  a  marshy  piece  of  ground  near  a  dam  on  the  river 
Amstel,  in  Holland.  The  occupants  of  these  cabins  were 
a  hardy  race  of  fishermen,  and  their  village,  in  time,  came 
to  be  known  as  Amsteldam,  afterwards  corrupted  into 
Amsterdam.  The  descendants  of  these  fishermen  for 
several  generations  followed  the  calling  of  their  fathers, 
and  the  rise  of  Holland  to  commercial  importance  did  not 
begin  until  the  fifteenth  century ;  manufactures  did  not 
flourish  until  the  capture  and  ruin  of  Antwerp  by  the  Duke 
of  Parma,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  miserable 
fugitives  from  that  unhappy  city  crowded  Amsterdam  and 
other  Dutch  towns.2 

1  Louis  Guicciardia,  Description  of  the  Netherlands,  quoted  by  Macpherson, 
Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  ii.  p.  128. 

2  Macpherson,  Annals  of  Commerce,  vol.  i.  pp.  372, 620  ;  vol.  ii.  pp.  176, 178. 


IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM.        257 

Eraclius,  it  is  claimed,  was  a  Greek,  who  lived  in  Italy, 
and  Theophilus,  while  he  is  thought  to  have  been  of  Ger- 
man origin,  is  also  considered  to  have  travelled  exten- 
sively in  Italy  and  southern  Europe,  if  not  to  have  resided 
there.  Tambroni  indeed  claims  that  Theophilus  was  cer- 
tainly an  Italian,  while  the  author  of  the  manuscript  en- 
titled "Mappae  Clavicula,"  if  not  an  Italian,  had  either 
travelled  in  Italy  and  gathered  his  recipes  from  the  Italian 
monks,  or  had  obtained  access  to  other  and  older  Italian, 
Roman,  or  Grecian  manuscripts,  and  thus  become  familiar 
with  Southern  methods. 

These  authors  rarely  refer  to  Arabian  sources  for  their 
information,  but  the  places  named  are  generally  Italian, 
and  the  terms  used  are  of  Italian  origin.  In  his  introduc- 
tion Theophilus  says :  "  If  you  carefully  peruse  this  you 
will  know  whatever  Greece  possesses  in  the  preparation 
of  colors,  Italy  in  gold  ornaments,  vases,  and  gems,"  etc.1 
In  his  time,  therefore,  Greece  and  Italy  were  famous  for 
their  knowledge  of  the  preparation  of  pigments  and  of  the 
art  of  decoration.  Arabia  is  referred  to  for  excellence  in 
working  of  metals,  but  Spain  is  not  mentioned.  Copies 
of  these  manuscripts  were  undoubtedly  common  in  Europe 
at  this  time.  Their  rarity  now  is  due  to  the  disturbed 
condition  of  society  in  the  middle  ages,  and  to  the  devas- 
tation committed  by  the  early  reformers,  who  in  their 
fanatical  zeal  condemned  and  destroyed  all  illuminated 
and  other  manuscripts  wherever  found.2 

The  modern  method  of  manufacturing  white  lead  did 
not  originate  with  the  Dutch.  The  description  in  the 
manuscript  of  Theophilus  varies  in  no  important  particu- 
lar from  that  used  by  the  Dutch  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, even  to  the  use  of  stable-litter.  Objection  may 
be  made  to  this  statement,  that  Theophilus  did  not  secure 

1  See  Theophilus,  Divers.  Artium  Schedula,  translated  by  Hendrie. 

2  Walpole,  Anecdotes  of  Painting,  vol.  i.  p.  42. 

17 


258  WHITE  LEAD 

the  necessary  carbon  dioxide  from  the  decomposing  dung, 
neither  did  the  Dutch  in  the  seventeenth  century  depend 
upon  the  decomposition  of  the  ferment  for  this  element, 
but  added  to  the  vinegar  in  the  pots  wine  lees,  bits  of 
marble,  and  other  substances  capable  of  producing  this 
necessary  factor.  The  description  given  by  Theophilus  is 
applicable  to  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  a  small 
way  only,  but  at  that  early  period,  and  for  some  centuries 
later,  it  was  the  custom  for  painters  to  prepare  their  own 
colors,  and  the  use  of  white  lead  was  extremely  limited ; 
but  the  process  described  by  Theophilus  is  capable  of  an 
easy  extension,  and  any  increased  demand  would  naturally 
suggest  an  enlargement  of  the  apparatus.  Theophilus  is 
not  alone  in  the  suggestion  of  the  use  of  stable-litter 
to  facilitate  chemical  action.  The  manuscript  found  at 
Mt.  Athos,  attributed  by  the  monks  to  the  tenth  or  the 
eleventh  century  recommends  this  material  in  the  manu- 
facture of  white  lead.  There  is  unfortunately  some  doubt 
respecting  the  date  of  this  manuscript.  Parts  of  it  are 
probably  as  old  as  the  twelfth  century,  but  other  portions 
are  unquestionably  of  much  more  modern  date.  Eraclius, 
however,  dating  as  early  as  the  ninth  or  tenth  century, 
recommends  stable-litter  as  a  ferment,  and  Saint  Audemar, 
as  early  as  the  thirteenth  or  the  fourteenth  century,  directs 
that  stable-dung  shall  be  used  in  making  white  lead. 
This  author  also  says  that  grape-skins,  or  the  refuse  of 
the  grapes  after  pressing,  may  be  used  as  a  ferment  in- 
stead of  stable-litter.1  The  use  of  stable-litter  in  the 
manufacture  of  white  lead  is  also  referred  to  in  the  "  Mar- 
ciana,"  and  in  other  ancient  manuscripts.  It  is  clear,  then, 
that  the  use  of  this  material,  and  the  process  used  by  the 
Dutch,  were  known  in  Italy  as  early  as  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  probably  very  much  earlier.  It  is  impossible, 

1  MSS.  of  Petrus  de  Sancto  Audeinaro,  in  Mrs.  Merrifield's  Original  Treatises, 
etc. 


IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM.         259 

therefore,  that  the  Dutch  invented  a  process  which  is 
clearly  described  in  manuscripts  written  before  the  foun- 
dation of  Amsterdam,  and  it  is  unlikely  that  they  bor- 
rowed from  the  Arabs  in  Spain  a  method  which  had  been 
practised  for  more  than  three  hundred  years  in  the  Italian 
cities  with  which  their  neighbors,  the  Flemings,  had 
been  in  constant  communication.  Two  centuries  before 
the  period  when  the  Dutch  are  said  to  have  borrowed  the 
art  of  manufacturing  white  lead  from  the  Saracens,  Italy 
was  the  recognized  centre  of  art,  and  artists  from  other 
countries  made  frequent  journeys  thither  for  study  and 
practice.  Examples  of  the  work  of  Van  Eyck,  the  great 
Flemish  painter,  were  exhibited  in  Italy  as  early  as  1410, 
and  Antonello  da  Messina  and  other  Italian  artists  visited 
Flanders  and  studied  with  him.1  Intercourse  was  frequent 
and  easy  between  the  artists  of  the  two  countries,  and  the 
secretii  of  the  Italians  were  unquestionably  well  known  to 
the  Flemish  painters,  and  especially  the  method  of  prepar- 
ing so  important  a  pigment  as  white  lead  was,  even  at 
that  early  day. 

The  encouragement  given  in  Italy  to  art  during  the 
later  centuries  of  the  middle  ages  resulted  in  the  produc- 
tion of  the  works  of  a  long  line  of  illustrious  artists,  which 
have  been  the  crowning  glory  of  that  favored  land.  It  is 
said  that  many  buildings  in  Venice  were  elaborately  fres- 
coed and  decorated  on  the  outside  by  Titian,  Giorgione, 
Paul  Veronese,  Tintoretto,  and  other  great  masters.2 

This  enthusiasm  for  the  art  of  painting,  and  the  result- 
ing increase  in  the  demand  for  materials  led  to  the  prepa- 
ration and  the  sale  of  pigments  by  others  than  the  monks, 
and  many  early  manuscripts  refer  to  the  apothecaries  and 
dealers  who  furnished  supplies.  There  can  be  no  doubt, 

1  Eastlake,  History  of  Oil  Painting,  vol.  i.  p.  192. 

2  C.  L.  Eastlake,  Contributions  to  the  Literature  of  the  Fine  Arts  (London, 
1848),  p.  173. 


260  WHITE  LEAD 

therefore,  that  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries, 
and  probably  much  earlier,  the  preparation  and  sale  of 
pigments,  which  was  a  well-established  pursuit  in  the  days 
of  the  empire,  had  been  revived,  and  had  become  in  Italy 
a  thoroughly  recognized  industry ;  and  that  the  friars, 
though  they  still  continued  to  supply,  perhaps  through  the 
apothecaries  and  other  dealers,  a  portion  of  the  demand 
for  such  substances,  no  longer  monopolized  the  business. 

The  Italians  at  this  early  period  not  only  practised  the 
art  of  painting  in  their  own  country,  but  carried  it  to 
other  countries  of  Europe.  In  1260,  by  a  precept  to  the 
sheriff  of  Surrey,  Henry  III.  ordered  that  the  paintings 
of  the  great  hall  at  Guilford  be  repaired,  and  that  there 
be  painted  "  on  the  white  wall  at  the  head  of  our  bed  a 
certain  cloth  or  pall,  etc.,  as  we  have  directed  William  of 
Florence,  painter."  1  In  the  reign  of  Edward  I,  1274,  an 
order  was  issued  to  pay  William,  the  painter,  36s.  for  the 
painting  of  twelve  mews ;  and  to  Stephen  Ferran  2s.  for 
twenty  pounds  of  white  ;  and  in  the  same  year,,  to  Rey- 
mund,  2s.  lOd.  for  seventeen  pounds  of  white  lead,  and 
16s.  for  sixteen  gallons  of  oil.  In  1289,  among  other 
materials  purchased  to  repair  the  Painted  Chamber,  we 
find  white  lead,  red  lead,  vermilion,  oil,  etc.2  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  three  hundred  years  before  the  Dutch 
are  said  to  have  originated,  or  to  have  borrowed  from  the 
Saracens  in  Spain,  a  process  for  making  white  lead  the 
pigment  was  in  common  use  in  England,  and  that  one  of 
the  principal  artists  or  workmen  was  an  Italian.  Mat- 
thioli,  writing  in  1540,  says  :  "  The  Venetian  ceruse  is 
the  best,  but  it  is  also  made  in  several  other  cities  of 
Italy."3  This  indicates  that  the  industry  had  been  es- 
tablished in  that  country  for  many  years.  There  can 

1  Walpole,  Anecdotes  of  Painting,  vol.  i.  p.  14. 

2  Eastlake,  History  of  Oil  Painting,  vol.  i.  pp.  52,  53,  109. 
8  Matthioli,  Commentarii  Dioscoridis,  etc.,  p.  667. 


IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM.  261 

scarcely  be  a  question,  therefore,  of  the  priority  of  the 
Italians  in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead,  and  there 
is  certainly  no  doubt  concerning  the  enviable  reputation 
of  the  Venetian  products  for  many  centuries.  English 
and  other  authors  of  the  sixteenth  century  mention  Vene- 
tian white  lead  and  no  other,  as  if  the  Italians  were 
the  only  manufacturers  in  Europe.  An  old  black-letter 
treatise  on  the  "  Art  of  Limming,"  printed  in  1581,  and 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  refers  only  to  "  Vennis 


cereuse." l 


It  is  probably  true  that  the  manufacture  of  white  lead 
was  introduced  into  Holland  in  the  sixteenth  century,  as 
writers  of  the  following  century  refer  to  the  products  of 
the  Dutch  factories.  The  Dutch,  however,  seem  to  have 
been  led  by  their  greed  and  their  desire  to  drive  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  Venetians  from  the  markets  of  Europe,  to 
adopt  a  system  of  falsification,  which  probably  retarded 
rather  than  advanced  the  object  they  had  in  view.  The 
Italian  manufacturers,  on  the  contrary,  used  great  care 
in  the  preparation  of  their  pigments,  and  preserved  the 
purity  and  the  excellence  of  their  products  notwithstand- 
ing the  unfair  competition  created  by  the  sophistications 
resorted  to  by  their  Dutch  and  English  rivals ;  for  the 
English  who  began  the  manufacture  in  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century  soon  surpassed  the  Dutch  in  the 
adulteration  of  their  products.  The  Venetians  retained 
their  hold  upon  the  trade  for  very  many  years,  and  their 
white  lead  was  long  esteemed  the  best,  even  in  the  mar- 
kets of  Holland  and  of  England. 

M.  Pomet,  chief  druggist  to  King  Louis  XIV.,  says  that 
the  true  ceruse  is  "  that  which  we  call  Venetian,  because 
the  Venetians  were  the  first  who  made  it."  He  complains 
of  its  great  cost,  and  says  that  they  used  in  France  but 

1  A  Very  Proper  Treatise,  wherein  is  breefely  sett  forth  the  Arte  of  Limming, 
etc.,  London,  1581. 


262  WHITE  LEAD 

little  else  than  the  ceruse  de  Holland,  which  was  cheaper, 
and  was  as  much  esteemed  by  the  painter ;  "  but  in  this 
they  were  wrong,  as  the  Dutch  ceruse  had  so  much  chalk 
in  it  that  it  was  of  no  long  duration,  whereas  the  Vene- 
tian ceruse  was  pure."  In  Zedler's  Lexicon,  edition  of 
1733,  it  is  said  that  the  Venetians  were  quite  the  first  to 
make  white  lead,  and  that  it  was  the  best,  but  more 
expensive  than  the  Dutch  and  English.  The  painters 
bought  the  Holland  ceruse  because  it  was  cheaper,  "  but 
the  ceruse  de  Holland  contained  much  chalk,  whereas  the 
Venetian  was  pure,  of  great  enduring  qualities,  and  kept 
white  until  the  last.  Bad  as  the  Holland  white  lead  is," 
this  author  continues,  "  the  English  is  much  worse,  as  it 
contains  a  greater  amount  of  adulterant." 2  Boerhaave 
says  Venice  white  lead  is  the  best,  and  should  alone  be 
used  by  apothecaries.3  The  industry  had  been  greatly 
extended  in  the  time  of  Von  Justi,  who  says,  writing  in 
1758 :  "  White  lead  is  in  much  greater  demand  than  one 
would  suppose  ;  the  manufacture  is  not  enough  to  supply 
the  demand  in  this  Prussian  kingdom.  It  is  best  not  to 
falsify  white  lead,  but  to  prepare  it  pure.  In  Holland 
and  England  we  find  that  a  good  proportion  of  chalk  is 
added,  and  so,"  he  quaintly  remarks,  "  we  have  been 
obliged  to  do  this  that  we  may  sell  it  at  the  same  price. 
Only  the  Venetian,"  he  continues,  "  is  wholly  pure,  and 
on  that  account  it  is  much  sought  after,  and  is  sold  at  a 
higher  price."4 

Watin  remarks  that  the  best  white  lead  formerly  came 
from  Venice,  but  the  English  and  Dutch  now  make  it. 
He  also  states  that  a  very  fine  and  white  ceruse  came 
from  Rome,  but  it  was  very  dear.  Ceruse  de  Krems  was 

1  Pomet,  A  Compleat  History  of  Druggs,  p.  125. 

2  Zedler's  Lexicon  (edition  1733),  article  Bleiweiss. 
8  Boerhaave,  Elements  of  Chemistry. 

4  Johann  Heinrich  Gottlob  Von  Justi,  Vollstandige  Abhandlung  von  denen 
Manufacturen  und  Fabriken  (Koppenhagen,  1758),  p.  518. 


IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM.         263 

also  in  much  favor,  "  made  at  a  little  town  in  the  Basse 
Autriche."  It  was  better  than  that  of  domestic  manu- 
facture, but  dearer.1 

The  encyclopaedias  of  this  period  generally  refer  to  the 
universal  sophistication  of  the  Dutch  and  English  white 
leads.  In  Kriinitz  it  is  stated  that  the  custom  of  adul- 
terating white  lead  prevailed  in  the  Dutch  and  English 
factories,  and  that  the  only  kind  to  be  obtained  in  a  per- 
fectly pure  state  was  the  Venetian,  which  on  that  account 
commanded  a  higher  price.2  An  English  Cyclopaedia 
(Howard's)  contributes  further  testimony,  by  stating  that 
Venetian  white  lead  ought  always  to  be  used  by  the 
apothecary,  on  account  of  its  purity ; 3  and  in  Chambers' s 
(ed.  of  1786)  it  is  stated  that  the  best  ceruse  is  that  of 
Venice,  but  it  is  rarely  used,  the  English  and  Dutch  being 
mostly  sold,  though  they  were  largely  adulterated  with 
chalk,  —  the  Dutch  being  rather  the  better  in  this  respect.4 
Leuchs  remarks  that  the  trade  in  white  lead  formerly 
belonged  to  Italy,  but  that  the  ceruse  de  Holland  was  the 
most  renowned  after  the  Venetian,  but  that  now  (1829), 
the  English  surpassed  it.5  Lefort  says  that  the  manu- 
facture of  ceruse  passed  successively  to  Venice,  Krems, 
Holland,  England,  and  to  France.6  According  to  Maigne, 
after  the  fall  of  Rome  the  preparation  of  white  lead  was 
monopolized  by  the  Arabs,  then  factories  were  established 
at  Venice,  then  in  Holland,  and  afterwards  in  England.7 

The  earliest  notice  found  of  the  methods  employed  by 
the  Venetians  is  in  a  work  published  in  London  in  1676. 

1  L'Art  du  Peintre,  etc.,  par  Le  Sieur  J.  F.  Watin  (Liege,  1774),  pp.  17,  18. 

2  (Economische  Encyklopedie  Kriinitz  (1787). 

8  Howard's  New  Royal  Cyclopaedia,  1788,  article  White  Lead. 

4  Chambers's  Cyclopaedia,  1786,  article  White  Lead. 

5  J.  Ch.  Leuchs,  Traite  Complet  des  Proprietes  de  la  Preparation  et  de  1'Em- 
ploi  des  Matieres  Tinctorales  et  de  la  Couleurs  (Paris,  1829),  p.  7. 

6  M.  J.  Lefort,  Chimie  des  Couleurs. 

7  Maigne,  Universal  Dictionary,  p.  79. 


264 


WHITE  LEAD 


The  author  mentions  only  Venice  ceruse,  and  describes 
its  manufacture  as  follows :  "  Sheet  lead  is  cut  in  long 
and  narrow  strips,  rolled  in  a  spiral,  and  placed  in  earthen 
pots  with  sharp  vinegar ;  the  lead  must  not  touch  the  vine- 
gar. Cover  it  close,  and  leave  for  some  time.  The  corrosive 
fumes  of  the  vinegar  reduce  the  superficies  of  the  lead  to 
a  white  calx,  which  they  separate  by  knocking  upon  it  with 
a  hammer.  There  are  two  kinds  of  this  sold  at  the  color 
shops,  —  one  called  ceruse,  which  is  most  pure,  the  other 
called  white  lead."  l  In  a  later  edition  the  author  refers 
to  an  account  of  the  methods  employed  by  the  Venetians, 
described  by  Sir  Philiberto  Vernatti  in  1678.  Vernatti 
says :  "  First,  pigs  of  clean  and  soft  lead  are  cast  into 
thin  plates,  a  yard  long,  six  inches  wide,  and  to  the  thick- 
ness of  the  back  of  a  knife.  These  are  rolled  with  some 
art  round,  but  so  as  the  surfaces  nowhere  meet  to  touch, 
for  where  they  do  no  ceruse  grows.  Thus  rolled  they  are 
put  each  in  a  pot  just  capable  to  hold  one,  upheld  by  a 
little  bar  from  the  bottom,  that  it  come  not  to  touch  the 
vinegar,  which  is  put  into  each  pot  to  effect  the  corrosion. 
Next,  a  square  bed  is  made  of  new  horse-dung,  so  big  as  to 
hold  twenty  pots  abreast,  and  to  make  up  the  number  four 
hundred  in  one  bed.  Then  each  pot  is  covered  with  a 
plate  of  lead,  and  lastly  all  with  boards,  as  close  as  con- 
veniently can  be.  This  repeated  four  times  makes  one 
'  heap/  so  called,  containing  sixteen  hundred  pots.  After 
three  weeks  the  pots  are  taken  up,  the  plates  unrolled, 
laid  upon  a  board,  and  beaten  with  '  battledores,'  till  all 
the  flakes  come  off,  which,  if  good,  prove  thick,  hard,  and 
weighty ;  if  otherwise,  fuzzy  and  light,  or  sometimes  black 
and  burned,  if  the  dung  prove  not  well  ordered ;  and 
sometimes  there  will  be  none.  From  the  beating-table  the 
flakes  are  carried  to  the  mill,  and  with  water  ground  be- 
tween mill-stones  until  they  be  brought  to  an  almost 

1  John  Smith,  The  Art  of  Painting  in  Oyl,  London,  1676. 


IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM.  265 

impalpable  fineness ;  after  which  it  is  moulded  into  small 
parcels  and  exposed  to  the  sun  to  dry  until  it  be  hard, 
and  so  fit  for  use." 

"  The  accidents  to  the  work  are :  that  two  pots  alike 
ordered,  and  set  one  by  the  other,  without  any  possible 
distinction  of  advantage,  shall  yield,  the  one  thick  and 
good  flakes,  the  other  few  and  small,  or  none,  which 
happeneth  in  greater  quantities,  even  over  whole  beds 
sometimes.  Sometimes  the  pots  are  taken  up  all  dry, 
and  so  sometimes  prove  best ;  sometimes  again  they  are 
taken  up  wet.  Whether  this  arises  from  the  vapors  com- 
ing from  below,  or  the  moisture  that  is  squeezed  out  by 
the  weight  of  the  pots,  we  cannot  discover.  This  we  ob- 
serve, that  the  plates  which  cover  the  pots  yield  better 
and  thicker  flakes  than  do  the  rolls  within ;  and  the  out- 
sides,  next  the  planks,  bigger  and  better  than  the  insides, 
next  the  rolls  and  the  spirits  that  first  arise  out  of  the 
vinegar.  We  therefore  question  much  whether  the  strong- 
est-bodied vinegar,  or  the  quickest  and  sharpest  be  the 
most  effectual."1 

This  author  writes  upon  this  subject  like  an  expert,  and 
those  who  have  had  experience  in  the  manufacture  of 
white  lead  will  readily  agree  that  his  description  is  clear 
and  accurate,  and  that  his  comments  are  intelligent  and 
judicious. 

This  method,  so  carefully  described  by  Yernatti,  was 
the  process  employed  in  Venice  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
It  corresponds  in  every  particular  to  the  method  now 
known  as  the  Dutch  process,  and  is  simply  the  enlarge- 
ment, incident  to  the  increased  demand  for  the  product, 
of  the  methods  described  by  Theophilus,  and  other  authors 
of  early  manuscripts,  of  undoubted  Italian  origin ;  and 

1  Sir  Philiberto  Vernatti,  Philosophical  Transactions  (London,  Jan.-Feb., 
1678),  "  A  Kelation  of  the  Making  of  Ceruse."  Wine  lees  and  bits  of  marble 
were  added  to  the  vinegar. 


266  WHITE  LEAD 

there  can  hardly  be  a  question  that  the  process  was  in 
use  in  Italy  many  centuries  before  the  date  of  Vernatti's 
description. 

It  is  extremely  improbable  that  the  Italians  borrowed 
their  methods  in  the  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  century 
from  the  Dutch ;  besides,  Muspratt  tells  us  that  the  process 
originally  used  by  the  latter  consisted  in  first  casting  the 
metal  in  thin  sheets,  then  bending  them  in  the  middle  to 
allow  them  to  be  hung  over  a  strip  of  wood  which  was 
to  serve  as  a  support.  Wooden  boxes  were  provided,  five 
feet  long,  twelve  inches  broad,  and  ten  inches  deep;  a 
number  of  strips  of  wood  were  arranged  in  each  box,  so 
that  a  sheet  of  lead  could  be  hung  upon  each  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  prevent  the  sheets  from  touching  one  an- 
other, or  the  sides  or  the  bottom  of  the  box.  A  mixture 
of  vinegar  and  wine  lees  was  then  introduced  into  each 
box  and  the  covers  fixed  securely  on.  When  a  number  of 
these  boxes  were  so  prepared,  they  were  placed  in  a  close 
room,  heated  to  a  temperature  of  80°  or  90°  Fahrenheit,  and 
allowed  to  remain  fifteen  days,  the  temperature  being  kept 
to  about  the  same  point  during  this  period.  The  heat  vola- 
tilized the  acetic  acid,  and  by  the  decomposition  of  the  wine 
lees  carbon  dioxide  was  evolved,  the  atmosphere  was  satu- 
rated with  moisture,  and  the  conditions  consonant  with 
the  theory  of  the  production  of  white  lead  by  the  Dutch 
process  were  all  present.  The  heat  of  the  room  was  some- 
times maintained  by  the  decomposition  of  stable-manure 
placed  therein.1 

This  description  closely  resembles  the  method  adopted 
in  Germany  in  modern  times,  in  place  of  the  so-called 
Dutch  method,  formerly  in  use  in  German  factories.  If 
Muspratt's  statement  is  correct,  and  this  was  the  original 
method  in  use  by  the  Dutch  manufacturers,  they  must 

1  Dr.  Sheridan  Muspratt,  Chemistry  Applied  to  the  Arts,  etc.,  2  vols.,  vol.  ii. 
p.  478. 


IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM.         267 

have  changed  their  practice  before  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  as  Gabriel  Jars,  an  astute  and  every  way  trust- 
worthy scientific  traveller  and  writer,  describes  fully  and 
intelligently  the  methods  employed  by  the  Dutch  at  that 
period.  Writing  in  1760-65,  Jars  says:  "The  manu- 
facture of  ceruse  and  ~blanc  de  plomb,  of  minium,  salts 
of  Saturn  (lead  acetate)  and  other  chemical  products  are 
monopolized  by  England  and  Holland."  The  secret  meth- 
ods of  the  Dutch  manufacturers  were  closely  guarded,  and 
entrance  to  their  factories  was  stoutly  denied,  but  Jars 
finally  succeeded  in  gaining  admission  to  establishments 
in  Eotterdam  and  in  Amsterdam.  At  this  time  a  differ- 
ence was  recognized  between  ceruse  and  Wane  de  plomb  ; 
the  former  was  a  mixture  of  white  lead  with  chalk,  or 
other  adulterants,  and  the  latter  was  understood  to  be 
absolutely  pure  white  lead.  It  was  also  known  under  the 
name  of  "  flake-white."  The  Dutch  used  English  pig-lead 
for  the  manufacture  of  white  lead,  receiving  it  in  pigs  of 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds'  weight.  The  methods 
employed  are  described  with  much  minuteness  by  Jars, 
who  was  a  most  careful  and  intelligent  observer. 

The  lead  was  first  cast  in  thin  sheets,  which  were  rolled 
in  a  spiral,  and  placed  in  earthen  pots,  seven  to  eight 
inches  high  and  four  to  five  inches  in  diameter,  made 
wider  at  the  top  than  at  the  bottom.  To  prevent  the  lead 
from  falling  to  the  bottom,  they  placed  inside  the  pot,  and 
at  about  one  third  of  its  depth,  a  piece  of  wood,  cut  the 
length  of  the  diameter  of  the  pot.  This  was  the  Rotter- 
dam method.  At  Amsterdam  the  manufacturers  had 
moulded  in  the  inside  of  the  pot,  and  at  about  one  third 
its  height,  three  little  points  which  served,  instead  of 
the  wood,  to  support  the  lead.  The  stacks  were  built  in 
one  range  of  four,  each  being  fifteen  feet  square.  After 
the  pots  had  been  filled  up  to  an  indicated  point  with 
vinegar,  and  the  spiral  of  lead  placed  in  position  in  each 


268  WHITE  LEAD 

pot,  they  were  arranged  in  rows  in  the  stack  upon  a  bed 
of  dung,  four  feet  thick  ;  the  pots  were  placed  together  as 
closely  as  possible,  and  when  the  bed  was  covered  with 
the  pots,  plates  of  lead  were  laid  upon  them,  and  the  whole 
layer  covered  with  boards.  These  boards  were  then  covered 
with  dung,  and  another  tier  of  pots  placed  as  before,  filled 
with  vinegar  and  lead,  and  covered  in  the  same  manner. 
This  was  repeated  until  five  tiers,  or  layers,  were  built  up. 
The  lead  was  left  in  the  stacks  from  four  to  five  weeks, 
"according,"  Jars  says,  "to  the  season,  and  the  quality 
of  the  dung."  In  one  of  the  layers  which  Jars  saw 
opened,  he  remarked  that  the  action  did  not  appear  to  be 
equally  satisfactory.  In  some  the  sheets  of  lead  were 
entirely  corroded,  in  others  the  operation  was  partial  only, 
while  in  a  few  the  surface  of  the  sheets  was  only  slightly 
attacked.  This  unequal  action  he  attributed  to  the  dung 
heating  more  in  some  parts  than  in  others.  The  sheets 
covering  the  pots  formed  a  crust  or  scale,  harder  and  more 
compact,  and  were  put  to  one  side  to  be  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  blanc  de  plomb.  When  the  dung  had  been  used 
several  times  it  was  replaced  by  new ;  that  rejected  was  sold 
to  be  used  as  a  fertilizer.  The  sheets  which  were  partially 
converted  were  taken  from  the  pots,  and  placed  upon  heavy 
tables,  and  beaten  with  mallets  to  separate  the  white  lead 
from  the  unconverted  lead,  care  being  taken  to  sprinkle 
it  with  water  from  time  to  time,  to  abate  the  dust.  The 
ceruse  was  now  removed  to  the  mills,  where,  in  Amster- 
dam, it  was  twice,  and  in  Rotterdam,  three  times  ground 
in  water,  the  mills  being  placed  one  above  another,  the 
lead  falling  from  the  upper  mill  directly  to  the  one  below 
it,  finally  passing  to  a  tub  placed  below  to  receive  it. 

The  workmen  having  in  charge  the  grinding  of  the 
lead,  fed  the  ceruse  from  the  tubs  with  a  ladle  into  the 
eye  of  the  stone,  adding,  from  time  to  time,  chalk  in  de- 
sired proportions  to  form  the  mixture.  This  mixture 


IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM.  269 

formed  the  ceruse.  The  Wane  de  plonib,  which  was  pure 
white  lead,  was  ground  without  the  admixture  of  any 
substance,  "  and  being,"  Jars  says,  "  harder,  and  requiring 
to  be  finer,  and  ground  with  more  care,  the  mills  could 
produce  but  ten  quintals  per  day,  while  of  the  ceruse, 
fifteen  quintals  were  turned  out." 

The  last  operation,  drying,  was  managed  as  follows: 
the  ceruse,  in  a  pulpy  state,  was  filled  into  unglazed  earthen 
pots,  in  shape  like  a  section  of  an  inverted  cone ;  these 
pots  were  placed  upon  long  wooden  shelves,  in  a  long  and 
narrow  building,  in  the  sides  of  which  a  great  number  of 
little  doors  were  provided,  to  open  and  close  at  pleasure, 
to  shield  the  ceruse  from  the  sun  and  rain,  which  would 
impair  its  color.  After  five  or  six  weeks  the  pots  were 
removed,  and  the  ceruse  was  turned  out,  the  contents  of 
each  pot  forming  a  conical  mass,  or  loaf ;  when  perfectly 
dry  this  was  trimmed,  tied  up  in  blue  paper,  and  packed 
in  barrels  for  market. 

The  blanc  de  plonib  was  treated  in  the  same  manner, 
except  that  the  loaves  were  smaller,  and  were  called  "  blanc 
de  plonib  d'ecailles"  *  Sometimes  this  term,  "  flake-white," 
included  pieces  of  perfectly  corroded  white  lead,  as  it  came 
from  the  beds,  without  grinding  or  preparation.  Artists 
are  frequently  advised,  in  the  literature  of  the  period,  to 
buy  only  this  substance,  and  to  grind  and  prepare  it  them- 
selves, to  insure  absolute  purity. 

This  extract  from  Jars  shows  that  the  Dutch,  in  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  made  white  lead  by  the 
process  in  use  by  the  Venetians  a  hundred  years  earlier, 
who  in  turn  merely  enlarged  the  process  described  by  the 
authors  of  manuscripts  of  the  tenth  to  the  twelfth  century. 
The  process  originally  in  practice  in  Germany  was  the 
same  as  described  by  Yernatti  as  in  use  in  Venice,  and 
which  may  properly  be  termed  the  "  Italian  method."  The 

1  Gabriel  Jars,  Voyages  Metal lurgiques  (Paris,  1780),  vol.  ii.  sec.  8. 


270  WHITE  LEAD 

Germans,  however,  have  very  generally  changed  their 
methods  to  what  is  known  as  the  "chamber  process." 
This  is  a  modification  of  "the  Dutch  method,  and  is  al- 
most precisely  like  that  described  by  Muspratt  asv  origi- 
nally used  by  the  Dutch  manufacturers.  Some  changes  in 
the  details  may  be  observed,  but  all  the  important  features 
are  present. 

Tingry,  describing  the  Dutch  method,  says  that  the  pots 
containing  the  lead  and  vinegar  are  placed  upon  a  warm 
sand  bath,  ubut  some  manufacturers  bury  them  in  beds 
of  dung.  Other  manufacturers,"  he  continues,  "  so  ar- 
range their  apparatus  as  to  favor  distillation  ;  and  when 
the  vapors  of  vinegar  condense  and  fall  back  into  the 
vessel  they  are  charged  with  lead,  and  are  utilized  in  the 
manufacture  of  set  de  Saturn,  lead  acetate."  The  white 
lead  which  was  sold  in  scales,  he  asserts,  was  pure,  but 
all  that  sold  in  a  powdered  state  was  adulterated.1  This 
description  recalls  the  methods  described  by  ancient  writers, 
where  lead  acetate  and  white  lead  were  *  perhaps  produced 
in  the  same  apparatus. 

United  States  Consul  Eckstein,  of  Amsterdam,  says  in 
his  report  of  December,  1886,  to  the  State  Department, 
that  beyond  doubt  the  numerous  factories  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  white  lead  in  Holland,  a  century  or  more 
ago,  employed  the  method  known  as  the  Dutch  process ; 
and  that  decomposing  stable-litter  was  used  as  the  source 
of  heat.  An  attempt  was  made,  "  a  good  while  ago," 
to  introduce  what  is  known  as  the  German  method  at 
Wormerveer,  and  more  recently  at  Utrecht,  but  it  was 
abandoned.  The  precipitation  method,  according  to  this 
authority,  has  never  been  tried  in  Holland.2 

After  the  discovery  of  the  passage  to  India  by  the  way 

1  P.  F.  Tingry,  Traite  Theoretique  et  Pratique  sur  1'Art  de  Faire  et  d'Ap- 
pliquer  les  Vernis,  etc.  (Geneve,  1803,  2  vols.),  vol.  ii.  p.  16. 

2  Consular  Report,  No.  73  (Washington,  1886),  p.  61. 


IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM.  271 

of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the  consequent  rupture  of 
the  trade  with  the  East,  which  the  Italian  cities  had  held 
for  so  many  centuries,  the  trade  of  the  Dutch  increased 
largely  and  rapidly.  This  enterprising  people,  favored  by 
the  wars  which  devastated  France,  added  largely  to  their 
manufactures,  and  were  enabled  to  compete  successfully 
with  the  Italians,  and  finally  to  secure  almost  a  monopoly 
of  the  trade  in  drugs,  and  materials  used  in  painting. 
They  established  manufactories  for  the  production  of  white 
lead  at  Amsterdam,  Rotterdam,  Dortrecht,  and  other  cities, 
and  supplying  themselves  with  raw  material  from  Eng- 
land, Germany,  Sweden,  France,  and  Spain,  returned  to 
those  countries  the  manufactured  products.  For  many 
years  they  retained  this  supremacy  in  the  trade,  until  the 
German  and  English  manufacturers,  encouraged  by  the 
adoption  of  a  wise  policy  by  their  governments,  and 
favored  by  an  abundant  supply  of  raw  material,  were 
enabled  to  gradually  usurp  the  place  which  the  Dutch 
had  held  for  so  many  years.1 

The  importance  of  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  in 
Holland  has  declined  very  largely  during  the  past  fifty 
years.  "Formerly,"  says  Consul  Eckstein,  "there  were 
a  great  many  factories  in  Holland.  Long  rows  of  them 
were  situated  along  the  road  from  Amsterdam  to  Haarlem, 
and  on  the  river  Zann."  In  the  year  1875,  it  is  estimated 
that  the  ten  factories  then  existing  produced  from  1,600 
to  2,200  tons  per  annum.  "At  present,"  he  says,  "the 
product  is  much  less,  as  several  factories  have  been  closed." 
There  are  factories  now  in  operation  at  Rotterdam,  Utrecht, 
Schoonhoven,  Gonda,  Kralingen,  etc.  Consul  Visser,  of 
Rotterdam,  estimates  the  product  of  the  white-lead  facto- 
ries in  the  Netherlands  at  four  thousand  tons  per  annum. 
This  is  chiefly  consumed  in  the  home  markets,  but  little 

1  See  Huet,  View  of  the  Dutch  Trade;  also  Lexicon  der  Kaufmannischer 
(Wiesenschaften,  1838),  article  Blei. 


272  WHITE  LEAD 

being  now  exported.  He  states  that  some  German  and 
Belgian  white  lead  is  imported,  and  being  of  an  inferior 
quality  and  cheaper,  is  used  to  mix  with  the  Dutch  when 
a  second  rate  and  cheaper  variety  is  wanted.1 

The  manufacture  of  white  lead  has  doubtless  been  con- 
tinuously practised  in  Italy  since  the  time  of  Vitruvius  and 
Pliny.  During  the  period  between  the  fall  of  the  Empire 
and  the  Revival,  the  extremely  limited  demand  was  sup- 
plied from  the  laboratories  of  the  monastic  establishments ; 
but  after  the  Revival,  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  be- 
came a  well  established  industry  in  the  secular  world,  and 
has  so  continued  to  the  present  day.  The  enterprise  of 
the  Dutch  and  of  the  English  has  deprived  the  Italian 
manufacturers  of  their  monopoly  of  the  trade  of  Northern 
Europe ;  but  they  continue  to  supply  Italy,  and  retain  the 
trade  of  the  Levant.  Until  the  vigorous  working  of  the 
Sardinian  lead  mines,  encouraged  some  twenty-five  years 
ago  by  the  wise  measures  of  Victor  Ernanuel  II.,  the  Ital- 
ian manufacturers  were  at  some  disadvantage,  being  forced 
to  bring  from  Spain  and  other  foreign  countries  their  sup- 
plies of  raw  material ;  but  in  later  years  they  have  drawn 
their  metallic  lead  from  their  own  mines,  and  have  been 
enabled  to  substantially  increase  their  output  of  white 
lead. 

According  to  Mr.  Consul  Johnson,  in  a  report  of  trades 
and  industries  of  the  city  of  Venice  presented  in  1773  to 
the  Deputazione  Straordinaria  Delle  Arte,  the  manufacture 
of  white  lead  is  not  mentioned.  Two  establishments,  he 
says,  formerly  existed  in  Venice,  but  both  had  ceased 
operations  before  1830.  The  method  used  at  these  facto- 
ries was  probably  that  commonly  known  as  the  Dutch  pro- 
cess. In  1840  a  factory  was  established  in  which  a  process 
similar  to  that  in  use  at  Klagenf urth  was  employed ;  but 

1  Consular  Report,  No.  74  (Washington,  1887)  :  Report  of  John  Visser,  Esq., 
Consul,  p.  499. 


IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM.  273 

the  competition  of  the  Carinthian  manufacturers  soon  caused 
the  abandonment  of  the  enterprise.1 

In  the  last  century  there  were  factories  at  Venice, 
Genoa,  Coregliano,  and  at  Rome;  but  the  principal  pro- 
duction of  white  lead  in  Italy,  at  the  present  day,  is  at 
Genoa  and  its  neighborhood.  At  Cogoleto,  fourteen  miles 
from  Genoa,  the  principal  seat  of  the  industry,  there  are 
said  to  be  fifteen  manufactories,  eight  of  which  are  now  in 
operation,  producing  annually  about  twenty-five  hundred 
tons.  There  are  eight  small  establishments  at  Naples,  and 
one  at  Milan.  Consul-General  Alden,  in  his  report  to  the 
State  Department,  does  not  refer  to  a  factory  in  Rome. 
The  manufacture  there  is  perhaps  abandoned. 

The  method  universally  employed  in  Italy,  until  very 
recent  times,  was  the  Dutch  process.  In  1881  a  modifi- 
cation of  this  method,  closely  resembling  that  adopted  by 
the  German  manufacturers,  was  introduced  at  Cogoleto. 
This  process  is  described  as  follows :  "  The  lead  is  cast  in 
thin  sheets,  which  are  hung  in  a  close  chamber ;  on  the 
floor  a  number  of  copper  receptacles  are  placed,  each  being 
in  communication,  by  pipes,  with  a  boiler  in  which  dilute 
acetic  acid  is  volatilized,  and  with  a  furnace  in  which 
carbon  dioxide  is  produced.  These  vapors  are  admitted 
into  the  chamber  in  proper  quantities  and  proportions,  and 
at  the  end  of  six  weeks  the  conversion  of  the  metallic  lead 
is  complete." 

At  Milan  a  process,  described  as  transforming  metallic 
lead  into  white  lead  "  by  the  use  of  revolving  heaters,"  is 
said  to  be  in  use.  The  annual  production  of  white  lead  in 
Italy,  in  the  early  years  of  this  century,  is  placed  at  800 
to  1,000  tons;  in  1840,  at  1,500  tons;  and  at  the  present 
time  it  is  estimated  that  3,500  to  4,000  tons  are  produced. 
White  lead,  ground  in  oil  and  prepared  for  the  painter,  is 

1  United  States  Consular  Report,  No.  78  (Washington,  1887)  :  Report  of 
Consul  H.  Abert  Johnson,  p.  445. 

18 


274 


WHITE  LEAD 


still  known  under  the  name  of  biacca,  the  term  given  to  it 
by  the  monks  of  the  middle  ages ;  while  in  the  dry  state, 
in  which  condition  it  is  usually  sold,  it  is  called  carbonato 
di  piombo. 

The  Italian  manufacturers  successfully  resisted  the 
temptation  to  adulterate  their  productions  until  1862,  and 
to  that  time  maintained  their  deservedly  high  reputation. 
Since  that  date  they  have  yielded  to  the  universal  practice 
in  Europe  of  sophisticating  white  lead,  and  now  compete 
with  the  English  and  German  manufacturers  in  the  pro- 
duction of  adulterated  wares.1 

The  manufacture  of  white  lead  was  introduced  into  Bel- 
gium about  the  year  1815.  Wat  in,  in  a  work  published  at 
Liege  in  1774,  bewails  the  supineness  of  his  countrymen, 
and  refers  to  the  enterprise  of  the  Dutch,  who  bought  the 
ore  and  vinegar  produced  in  his  district,  and  returned 
the  manufactured  blanc  de  plorrib.  This  author  describes 
the  methods  in  use  by  the  Dutch,  but  says  the  pots  should 
be  luted  and  put  over  a  moderate  fire,  or  warm  cinders  ; 
but  in  this,  perhaps,  he  refers  to  a  laboratory  experiment, 
or  to  the  manufacture  in  a  small  way ;  as  "  in  large  es- 
tablishments," he  observes,  "  the  practice  was  to  bury  the 
pots  in  beds  of  dung  for  ten  days."  At  the  expiration 
of  that  time  the  pots  were  opened,  and  the  plates  of  lead 
were  found  thickened  and  covered  with  white  pieces,  hard 
and  friable,  and  termed  Wane  de  plomb  en  ecailles,  which 
was  ground  in  water  and  dried.2  This  author  describes  a 
method  of  testing  the  purity  of  white  lead,  which  is  distin- 
guished for  its  extreme  simplicity,  and  its  convincing  results. 
This  method  has  been  extensively  advertised  by  some  manu- 
facturers in  the  United  States,  and  this  has  had  much  to 
do  with  the  substitution  of  pure  lead,  by  the  best  painters 

1  United  States  Consular  Eeport,  No.  75  (Washington,  1887)  :    Report  of 
Consul-General  Alden,  pp.  581,  582 ;  Report  of  Consul  Fletcher,  p.  583. 

2  Le  Sieur  J.  F.  Watin,  L'Art  du  Peintrc,  etc.  (Liege,  1774),  p.  17. 


IN  ITALY,  HOLLAND,  AND  BELGIUM.  275 

of  this  country,  for  the  fraudulent  mixtures  imposed  upon 
them  by  unscrupulous  dealers  twenty  years  ago.  Watin 
recommends  that  a  piece  of  charcoal  be  provided,  in  which 
a  small  cavity  is  bored ;  into  this  cavity  a  pinch  of  white 
lead  is  introduced,  and  by  means  of  a  flame  mixed  with 
air ;  if  the  sample  is  pure  the  carbonic  acid  is  dissipated, 
and  globules  of  metallic  lead  result.  Impurities,  even  if 
present  in  small  quantities,  prevent  the  satisfactory  termi- 
nation of  this  experiment ;  chalk  parts  with  its  carbonic 
acid  and  remains  a  white  powder;  barium  sulphate  is 
unchanged. 

The  process  employed  in  Belgium  in  the  manufacture 
of  white  lead  is  the  Dutch  method,  stable-litter  being 
generally  used  as  the  source  of  heat.  The  industry  flour- 
ished in  Belgium  in  the  early  part  of  this  century,  the 
proximity  to  the  lead  deposits  enabling  the  Belgian  manu- 
facturers to  successfully  compete  with  the  Dutch  for  the 
trade  of  France,  where  the  products  of  the  Belgian  facto- 
ries found  a  ready  market.  The  exhaustion  of  the  Belgian 
lead  mines,  with  the  consequent  increase  in  the  value  of 
metallic  lead,  which  is  now  brought  from  Spain  and  Ger- 
many, added  to  the  increase  in  the  production  of  the 
German  white-lead  factories  and  the  sharp  competition  of 
the  German  manufacturers,  has  in  later  years  deprived 
Belgium  of  her  foreign  trade,  and  the  manufacture  has 
largely  declined  in  importance.1 

1  See  Report  of  Consul  G.  D.  Robertson  to  State  Department :  Consular 
Report,  No.  74  (Washington,  1887),  p.  492. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

WHITE   LEAD   IN   GREAT   BRITAIN. 

HP*  HE  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  a  large  way  was 
JL  introduced  into  England  some  years  subsequent  to 
the  establishment  of  the  industry  in  Holland.  The  policy 
of  Elizabeth,  in  absolutely  prohibiting  the  importation  into 
England  of  all  articles  produced  from  metals,  encouraged 
the  establishment  in  her  own  dominions  of  manufacturing 
industries.  Previous  to  her  reign,  Germany  and  other 
continental  nations  had  drawn  supplies  of  raw  materials 
from  Great  Britain,  and  had  returned  the  same  substances 
transformed  into  articles  of  every-day  use  and  necessity. 

Red  lead  and  litharge  had  doubtless  been  produced  in 
England  for  many  years,  but  probably  only  as  incidental 
to  the  desilverizing  of  the  product  of  the  lead  mines. 
During  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  encouraged  by  her  prohib- 
itory decrees,  attempts  were  made  to  establish  the  manu- 
facture of  white  lead  upon  a  permanent  basis.  An  English 
writer  on  painting  and  materials,  in  1581,1  refers  to  "  Ven- 
nis  cereuse,"  but  makes  no  mention  of  any  home  produc- 
tion. Venice  white  lead  was  undoubtedly  considered  to 
be  the  best,  and  this  may  be  a  sufficient  explanation  of 
his  omission ;  but  it  is  extremely  probable  that  the  manu- 
facture of  white  lead  was  not  then  thoroughly  established 
in  England.  In  1622,  however,  one  Christopher  Eland 
was  awarded  a  patent,  No.  22,  "  for  makinge  of  white  and 

1  A  Very  Proper  Treatise,  etc.,  London,  1581. 


WHITE   LEAD  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  277 

redd  leade  as  it  is  now  made  for  painters  within  this  our 
realine  of  Englande."  No  specifications  of  this  patent 
are  given,  but  by  its  terms  Eland  seems  to  have  secured  a 
monopoly  of  the  trade  in  red  lead  in  England.  Eland's 
patent  is  entitled  "  for  makinge  of  white  and  redd  leade," 
etc. ;  no  reference  is  made  to  white  lead  except  in  the 
above  quotation,  but  it  would  appear  from  the  provisions 
that  there  were  four  work-houses,  or  factories,  in  England 
for  the  manufacture  of  red  lead ;  and  as  white  lead  is 
mentioned  in  connection  with  red  lead,  that  pigment  was 
doubtless  also  manufactured.  In  1635,  patent  No.  88  was 
granted  to  James  Rosse  and  Alexander  Roberte,  for  "a 
newe  way  of  makeing  of  redd  and  white  leade,  and  glaz- 
ing earthenware  with  lytharge  out  of  which  the  silver  is 
first  extracted." l  No  specifications  of  this  patent  were 
enrolled,  but  it  is  evident  that  the  manufacture  of  white 
lead  was  then  completely  established. 

An  English  author,  a  little  later,  treating  of  pigments 
to  be  used  in  painting,  says  :  "  The  first  in  order  of  whites, 
—  the  most  excellent,  pure,  virgin  colours,  —  are  ceruse 
and  white  lead.  The  latter  is  the  best  for  use  and  less 
subject  to  mixtures."  "  Ceruse  "  —  and  this  name  was 
applied  at  that  time  to  adulterated  white  lead  —  "ceruse," 
he  says,  "  after  it  is  wrought  will  starve,  lavish,  and  dye, 
and  being  laid  on  with  a  pencil  a  fair  white,  will  in  a  few 
months  become  a  russet,  reddish,  or  yellowish."  "White 
lead," — by  which  term  flake-white,  or  pure  lead  as  it 
came  from  the  corroding-pot,  was  intended,  —  "if  you 
grind  it  fine,  as  all  our  colours  must  be,  it  will  glisten  and 
shine  both  in  the  shell,2  and  after  it  is  wrought ;  and  if  not 
ground  it  will  not  work,  nor  be  serviceable.  To  prevent 

1  Abridgments  of  Specifications  relating  to  Paints,  Colours,  and  Varnishes 
(London,  1871),  p.  2. 

2  Painter-artists  in  that  day  mixed  their  colors  in  a  shell;   the  painter's 
palette  is  a  comparatively  modern  invention. 


278  WHITE  LEAD 

these  inconveniences  of  both  colors/'  he  continues,  "this 
is  the  remedy  :  Before  you  grind  either  of  them,  lay  them 
—  especially  the  white  lead  —  in  the  sun  for  two  or  three 
days,  which  will  exhale  and  draw  away  the  salt,  grease, 
and  commixtures,  that  starve  and  poison  the  colour ;  be- 
sides, you  must  scrape  off  the  superficies  of  the  white  lead, 
reserving  only  the  middle  as  the  cleanest  and  purest.  Be 
careful  of  your  whites,"  he  says,  "  that  being  the  ground 
and  foundation  of  all  your  other  colours,  and  if  faulty,  all 
the  work  is  marred." 

Nicolius  le  Febvre,  "  Royal  Professor  in  Chymistry  to  His 
Majesty  of  England,  and  Apothecary  to  His  Honourable 
Household,"  had  a  very  mean  opinion  of  the  metal  lead, 
and  in  his  elaborate  and  ponderous  work  dismisses  the 
subject  we  have  under  consideration  in  a  very  few  words. 
He  says :  "  White  lead  is  made  by  suspending  plates  of 
lead  upon  a  spirit  or  sharp  liquid,  the  vapour  of  which 
does  by  degrees  calcine  the  lead  and  reduces  it  to  that 
substance  called  white  lead,  or  ceruss." 2  Smith,  in  the 
first  edition  of  "  The  Art  of  Painting  in  Oyl,"  says : 
"  Ceruse  is  only  white  lead  more  refined,  which  advances 
its  price  and  renders  it  something  more  esteemed  among 
picture-drawers ;  but  the  white  lead  is  every  way  as  use- 
ful. It  is  the  only  white  color  used  in  painting  in  oyl."  3 
In  the  second  edition  Smith  says  that  white  lead  owes 
its  origin  to  the  common  plumbers'  lead,  and  he  describes 
the  process  of  manufacture  as  practised  at  Venice,  fol- 
lowing Yernatti,  to  whose  description  he  refers.  He  says  : 
"  The  principle  of  all  whites  is  white  lead,  two  kinds  of 
which  are  sold  at  the  colour  shops, — one  called  ceruse, 
which  is  most  pure,  the  other  called  white  lead."  In  this, 

1  Wm.  Sanderson,  Esq.,  Graphice :  The  Use  of  the  Pen  and  Pencil  (Lon- 
don, 1658),  p.  55. 

2  Nicolius  le  Febvre,  A  Compendious  Body  of  Chymistry,  vol.  ii.  p.  185. 
8  John  Smith,  The  Art  of  Painting  in  Oyl,  p.  11. 


IN   GREAT  BRITAIN.  279 

Smith  is  at  variance  with  Sanderson,  who  says  that  white 
lead  is  most  pure  ;  but  Smith  adds,  "  another  white  is  sold, 
called  ( flake-white,'  which  by  some  is  said  to  be  the  best. 
The  reason  I  do  not  understand,  except  because  it  is  scarce 
and  dear.  This  lead  is  said  to  be  found  under  the  lead  of 
some  very  old  buildings,  where  time  has,  by  the  assistance 
of  some  sharp  quality  of  the  air,  thus  reduced  the  under- 
most superficies  of  the  lead  in  thin  white  calx,  which 
proves  a  very  good  white,  but,  in  my  opinion,  not  exceed- 
ing the  best  ceruse."  After  describing  the  manner  of 
grinding  colors  in  oil,  he  recommends,  "  if  they  are  to  be 
kept,"  that  they  be  put  up  in  bladders,  to  keep  them  from 
drying.1  Smith  defines  the  meaning  of  the  term  "  body," 
as  applied  to  pigments ;  and  the  possession  of  this  prop- 
erty by  white  lead  seems  to  have  been  well  understood  at 
that  time.  "  Some  may  say,"  he  observes,  "  what  is  to  be 
understood  by  a  colour's  bearing  body.  I  say,  to  bear  a 
body  is  to  be  of  such  a  nature  as  is  capable  of  being 
ground  so  fine,  and  mixing  with  the  oyl  so  intimately, 
as  to  seem  only  a  thick  oyl  of  the  same  colour  ;  and  of 
this  nature  is  ceruse."  2 

On  the  15th  of  December,  1749,  patent  No.  651  was 
issued  to  Sir  James  Creed,  "  for  a  method  or  way  of  mak- 
ing white  lead,"  etc.  An  abridgment  of  the  specifications 
is  as  follows  :  "  Making  white  lead  by  the  heat  of  fire,  — 
instead  of  horse-dung,  hitherto  the  common  method, — 
placing  in  chambers,  rooms,  stoves,  ovens,  or  other  close  and 
confined  places  heated  with  fire,  lead  cast  in  thin  plates  ;  and 
raising  or  conveying  therein  the  steam  or  vapour  of  vinegar 
or  other  acid,  raised  by  fire,  until  the  plates  are  corroded 
thereby  into  flakes,  or  dust,  of  white  lead ;  the  steam  or 
heat  is  to  be  regulated  by  slides,  valves,  stopples,  stop- 
cocks, or  the  like,  and  discharged  into  the  air,  or  collected 

1  John  Smith,  The  Art  of  Painting  in  Oyl  (2d  ed.  1678),  p.  15. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  27. 


280  WHITE  LEAD 

in  a  still-head  and  condensed  by  a  refrigerator."  l  This  is 
the  first  patent  granted  in  England  for  the  manufacture  of 
white  lead,  the  specifications  of  which  are  preserved.  The 
method  here  described  is  a  modification  of  the  Dutch  pro- 
cess, and  is  based  upon  principles  familiarly  known  in  this 
country  as  the  "  chamber  process."  It  resembles  very 
closely  what  is  now  known  in  Europe  as  the  "  German 
method,"  —  a  process  introduced  very  generally  into  that 
country  during  the  present  century.  Improvements  in 
the  details  of  Sir  James  Creed's  process  have  been  re- 
peatedly patented,  and  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  by 
this  method  established  in  this  country  and  in  England 
during  the  past  fifty  years;  but  these  enterprises  have 
universally  resulted  disastrously. 

Gabriel  Jars  extended  his  "  Voyages  Metallurgiques  " 
to  England,  and  visited  the  white-lead  works  at  Sheffield. 
He  mentions  no  other  seat  of  the  manufacture,  and  so 
acute  an  observer  would  probably  select  one  of  the  most 
important  establishments  for  his  observations  and  inqui- 
ries. Jars  found  the  methods  in  use  at  Sheffield  (in  1760) 
much  the  same  as  those  he  observed  at  Rotterdam  and  at 
Amsterdam  ;  the  differences  being  unimportant,  and  con- 
sisting principally  in  the  manner  of  casting  the  lead  pre- 
paratory to  placing  it  in  the  pots,  and  in  the  separation  of 
the  carbonate  from  the  unconverted  metallic  lead  upon  its 
removal  from  the  stacks.  At  Sheffield  this  was  effected 
by  agitating  it  in  a  closed  box,  provided  with  a  grating. 
He  also  mentions  some  improvements  in  washing  and  dry- 
ing. White  lead  was  dried  at  that  time  without  the  use 
of  artificial  heat.  Jars  says  that  drying  with  artificial 
heat  had  a  tendency  to  turn  white  lead  yellow ;  so  it  was 
allowed  to  dry  naturally,  for  which  six  weeks  in  winter, 
and  four  weeks  in  summer,  was  necessary.2 

1  Abridgments  of  Specifications,  etc.,  p.  3. 

2  Jars,  Voyages  Metallurgiques,  vol.  ii.  sec.  8. 


IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  .  281 

Sir  John  Hill,  in  a  note  in  his  translation  of  Theo- 
phrastus's  "  History  of  Stones,"  says  that  at  that  time 
(1774)  there  were  three  or  four  different  modes  of  mak- 
ing white  lead  in  use  in  England,  but  "  all  were  of  the 
same  nature  as  that  described  by  Theophrastus,  and  are 
the  effect  of  vinegar  upon  lead."  By  some,  he  says,  it 
was  made  by  "  infusing  filings  of  lead  in  strong  vinegar, 
which  in  twelve  or  fourteen  days  would  be  almost  entirely 
dissolved,  and  leave  a  very  good  ceruse  at  the  bottom  of 
the  vessel."  Others  made  it  by  plunging  thin  plates  of 
the  same  metal  into  vinegar  and  placing  the  vessel  over  a 
gentle  heat.  In  about  ten  days  the  plates  would  be  found 
to  be  covered  with  a  white  "  rust,"  which  was  scraped  off ; 
and  the  plates  were  again  plunged  into  vinegar,  scraped 
again  after  another  interval,  and  the  operation  repeated 
until  the  plates  "  were  wholly  eaten  in  pieces."  The 
scrapings  were  afterwards  ground  together.  Another 
method  he  describes  as  putting  vinegar  into  an  earthen 
vessel,  covering  the  vessel  with  a  plate  of  lead,  and  placing 
it  in  the  sun  in  hot  weather.  After  ten  days,  he  says,  the 
lead  would  be  dissolved,  and  precipitated  in  the  form  of 
ceruse  to  the  bottom  of  the  vessel.1 

These  processes  are  so  very  similar  to  those  described 
by  Theophrastus,  Vitruvius,  Pliny,  and  Dioscorides,  and 
so  unlike  the  methods  in  use  at  Sheffield  fourteen  years 
earlier,  as  described  by  Jars,  that  we  may  infer  that  the 
learned  translator  of  the  old  Greek  writer  was  unac- 
quainted with  the  practice  in  his  own  country,  and  that 
he  was  content  to  assume  that  the  old  methods  were  still 
in  vogue. 

There  has  been  lately  introduced  into  the  markets  of 
England  and  of  the  United  States,  as  a  substitute  for 
white  lead,  the  purified  and  decolorized  condensation  of 
lead  fumes  resulting  from  the  smelting  of  galena. 

1  Theophrastus,  History  of  Stones,  p.  223,  note. 


282  WHITE  LEAD 

The  ancients  recovered  zinc  oxide  from  the  chimneys  of 
their  smelting-furnaces,  and  employed  it  as  a  remedial 
agent ;  and  Agricola  illustrates  and  describes,  with  much 
minuteness,  the  construction  of  chambers  for  the  condensa- 
tion and  collection  of  metallic  vapors.1  Bishop  Watson, 
in  his  "Chemical  Essays,"  written  about  1780,  describes 
the  horizontal  chimney,  some  two  or  three  hundred  yards 
long,  for  the  condensation  and  collection  of  lead  fumes, 
which  is  much  better  for  this  purpose  than  the  chamber 
described  by  Agricola.  Watson  experienced  a  strange 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Derbyshire  smelters,  when 
he  tried  to  persuade  them  to  adopt  this  device  to  save 
the  lead  which  was  lost  by  volatilization  and  escaped  to  the 
outer  air;  but  the  principle  was  demonstrated,  and  the 
prejudice  of  the  smelters  overcome,  in  an  accidental  man- 
ner. A  horizontal  chimney  of  this  description  was  built 
at  Middle  ton  Dale,  to  prevent  injury  to  a  pasture  by  the 
smoke  and  fumes  of  a  furnace,  and  was  found  to  correct 
the  evil,  and  also  to  collect  large  quantities  of  the  lead 
fumes  volatilized  by  the  heat  of  the  furnace,  which  had 
condensed  in  the  chimney.  This  sublimed  lead  was  whitish 
in  appearance,  and  soon  became  an  article  of  commerce, 
being  sold  to  the  painters,  who  paid  £10  to  £12  per  ton 
for  it.2  Modifications  of  Watson's  chimney  have  been 
generally  adopted  in  modern  smelting-works.  Watson 
describes  the  usual  method  of  preparing  white  lead  in 
England  in  his  time  (1775-1780)  as  the  Dutch  process. 
The  lead  was  cast  in  thin  plates,  rolled  in  spirals,  and 
placed  in  earthen  pots  which  were  buried  in  beds  of  stable- 
litter.  After  some  weeks,  the  spirals  were  found  covered 
with  white  scales,  which  were  beaten  off,  washed,  and 
ground  in  a  mill,  and  the  product,  he  says,  "  constitutes 
the  white  lead  of  the  shops,  except  that  generally,  even 

1  Agricola,  De  Re  Metallica,  p.  323. 

2  Watson,  Chemical  Essays,  vol.  iii.  p.  284. 


IN   GREAT  BRITAIN.  283 

before  it  gets  into  the  hands  of  the  painter,  it  is  adulter- 
ated with  chalk."  Watson  adds  the  statement  that  "ceruse 
was  formerly  made  by  the  vapour  of  putrid  urine  in- 
stead of  vinegar."  1  Saint  Audemar  (1300  ?)  recommends, 
in  the  manufacture  of  green,  that  wine,  beer,  or  stale 
urine  —  which  is  better  than  fresh  —  be  put  in  a  wooden 
or  earthen  vase,  in  which  strips  of  copper  or  brass  are 
placed,  and  so  arranged  that  the  copper  or  brass  does  not 
touch  the  urine ;  the  vase  is  then  buried  in  horse-dung, 
and  in  the  course  of  eight  or  nine  days  the  green  color  is 
found  adhering  to  the  copper  or  brass.2 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  manu- 
facture of  white  lead  must  have  assumed  considerable  im- 
portance in  Great  Britain,  as  several  patents  were  granted 
for  improvements  in  the  old  process,  and  for  its  manufac- 
ture by  new  methods.  In  1781,  James  Turner  patented  a 
process  by  which  red  lead  or  litharge  was  mixed  with  half 
its  weight  of  sea-salt,  or  "  of  sea-salt  dissolved  in  water ; " 
after  triturating  the  mixture  for  twenty-four  hours,  the  lith- 
arge, it  was  claimed,  would  be  changed  to  a  good  white. 

In  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  by  the  Dutch  process, 
stable-litter  was  universally  used  as  the  source  of  heat  and 
of  carbon  dioxide  until  1787,  when  the  use  of  spent  tan- 
bark  is  mentioned.  Richard  Fish  wick  obtained  a  patent 
in  that  year  for  the  use  of  spent  tan-bark  instead  of  stable- 
litter.  The  patentee  claimed  that  the  bark  communicated 
a  more  certain  and  equal  degree  of  heat  to  the  vinegar 
and  the  lead.3 

The  Earl  of  Dundonald  introduced  a  new  method  of 
making  white  lead  in  1797.  Metallic  lead  is  to  be  brought 
to  a  "  state  of  calx  or  oxyd ;  the  calx  is  to  be  mixed  with 
muriat  of  potash  or  sal  digestives  silvii  or  with  oxygenated 

1  Watson,  Chemical  Essays,  vol.  iii.  p.  361. 

8  MSS.  of  Petrus  de  Sancto  Audemaro :  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  118. 

8  Abridgments  of  Specifications,  etc.,  p.  12. 


284  WHITE  LEAD 

muriat  of  potash,"  in  certain  proportions,  well  mixed  and 
stirred  at  intervals,  and  "alternately  wetted  with  water 
(either  impregnated  or  not  with  fixable  air  or  carbonic 
acid)  and  dried  by  air  or  air  in  which  carbonic  acid  is  com- 
bined ;  the  result  is  carbonat  of  lead  and  muriat  of  potash," 
the  product  was  then  washed  for  the  elimination  of  the 
potash  and  the  white  lead  ground,  levigated,  and  dried. 
"  Muriat  of  soda,  or  sea-salt,"  it  was  claimed,  could  be  sub- 
stituted for  the  potash  salt,  producing  the  same  result. 
Turner,  in  1781,  obtained  a  patent  for  this  method,  and  in 
1799  John  Wilkinson  was  granted  letters-patent  for  the 
"  discovery  of  a  new  method  of  making  white  lead,"  which 
is  described  as  "  grinding  litharge  very  fine  in  sea-water  or 
other  saline  mixture." l  Notwithstanding  the  complete 
establishment  of  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  Great 
'Britain  at  this  time,  and  the  activity  displayed  in  the 
attempt  to  improve  the  methods  of  preparing  it,  the  repu- 
tation of  the  home  products  was  such  that  writers  of  the 
period  warn  the  public  against  the  villainous  adulterations 
practised  by  the  dealers.  The  Venetian  was  on  all  sides 
recommended  as  the  best,  and  the  only  white  lead  which 
could  be  produced  free  from  debasement.  The  Dutch  pro- 
ductions, bad  as  they  were,  had  a  better  reputation  than 
the  English. 

The  first  decade  of  the  present  century  was  fruitful  in 
the  invention  of  new  processes  in  the  manufacture  of  white 
lead.  In  1800,  Thomas  Grace  proposed  the  use  of  spent 
hops  or  spent  rapes  or  raisins,  instead  of  the  usual  bed  of 
horse-litter  or  spent  tan-bark,  in  corroding  lead.  He  also 
suggested  a  new  method  of  preparing  the  vinegar  or  acid 
to  be  used ;  he  substituted  for  "  common  water  "  the  sour 
water  in  which  grain  has  been  steeped  in  making  starch, 
or  the  wash  after  the  distillation  of  spirit,  sometimes  also 
adding  "  the  water  which  comes  over  with  the  oil  of  tur- 

1  Abridgments  of  Specifications,  etc.,  p.  18. 


IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  285 

pentine,  when  distilling  the  same."  He  dissolved  in  this 
liquid  molasses,  syrup,  or  sugar  in  certain  proportions  and 
fermented  them  in  the  usual  manner.1  His  recommenda- 
tion of  the  use  of  spent  rapes  or  raisins,  for  which  he 
received  a  patent,  had  been  anticipated,  as  Saint  Audemar 
suggested,  more  than  four  hundred  years  earlier,  the  use  of 
"  spent  grapes  "  for  a  similar  purpose.2  Grace  was  necessa- 
rily ignorant  of  the  suggestion  of  Saint  Audemar,  as  at  the 
date  of  his  patent  the  manuscript  of  the  French  monk  was 
hidden  in  the  collection  of  Le  Begue,  at  Paris,  and  locked 
in  the  Latin  and  the  chirography  of  the  middle  ages. 
Saxellye  obtained  a  patent,  in  1804,  for  a  process  in  which 
the  pots  containing  the  lead  and  acid  were  placed  in  a  cham- 
ber, "  heated  by  the  combustion  of  fuel/'  and  without  the 
aid  of  horse-litter  or  tanners'  bark.  \Ve  are  not  informed 
of  the  manner  of  producing  carbon  dioxide.3  In  1806, 
James  Keir  patented  a  process  for  treating  chloride  of 
lead  with  some  alkaline  substance  containing  carbonic  acid. 
Noble,  in  1808,  passed  a  current  of  mixed  carbonic  acid 
and  air  through  a  vessel  containing  lead  and  a  solution  of 
acetate  of  lead ; 4  and  the  next  year,  John  Brierly  was 
granted  letters-patent  for  a  process  of  "  setting  blue  lead 
for  the  purpose  of  corroding  the  same  into  white  lead." 
Brierly 's  method  consisted  in  setting  pots  containing  acid 
only  upon  the  bed  of  tan-bark  or  horse-litter,  covering  them 
with  boards  having  holes  bored  through  them  correspond- 
ing to  the  mouths  of  the  pots  underneath.  The  lead,  cast 
in  sheets,  was  rolled  and  placed  directly  upon  the  boards 
and  immediately  over  the  holes,  so  that  the  vapors  arising 
from  the  decomposing  bark  or  litter,  and  the  evaporating 
acid,  could  readily  attack  them.  Boards  were  placed  edge- 
wise as  a  support  for  another  layer  of  boards  which  were 

1  Abridgments  of  Specifications,  etc.,  p.  19. 

2  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  p.  120. 

8  Abridgments  of  Specifications,  etc.,  p.  20.  4  Ibid.,  p.  26. 


286  WHITE  LEAD 

covered  with  tan-bark,  or  litter,  and  pots,  thus  repeating 
the  arrangement  of  the  tier  below.1 

In  1818,  George  Fred  Hagner  took  out  a  patent  for 
granulating  lead,  by  introducing  it  while  melted  into  a 
revolving  cylinder  with  an  opening  at  one  end ;  pyrolig- 
neous  acid  was  introduced  and  a  current  of  carbonic  acid 
gas  passed  through  the  lead.2  In  1821,  Sadler  obtained  a 
patent  for  a  new  and  improved  method  of  making  "  car- 
bonate of  lead,  formerly  denominated  ceruse,  but  now 
commonly  called  white  lead."  Sadler  introduced  carbonic 
acid,  in  gas  or  in  solution,  into  a  vessel  containing  a  solu- 
tion of  sub-acetate  of  lead.  Agitation  was  employed  until 
"  the  absorption  of  carbonic  acid  took  place." 3  John  Ham, 
in  1826,  patented  a  process  which  consisted  in  making  the 
chamber  or  stack  water-tight,  by  forming  the  bottom  and 
sides  to  the  depth  of  twelve  inches  of  brick  laid  in  cement. 
The  chamber  was  filled  to  the  height  of  three  or  four  feet 
from  the  bottom  with  spent  tan-bark  "  or  any  other  vege- 
table substance  susceptible  to  a  similar  decomposition ;  " 
above,  flat  layers  of  sheet-lead  were  arranged  alternately, 
supported  by  laths.  The  top  was  covered  with  tan-bark. 
Vinegar  or  acetic  aid  was  introduced  by  a  pipe  to  the 
depth  of  about  nine  inches.  Steam  was  passed  through  a 
pipe  coiled  about  the  bottom  of  the  chamber  to  preserve 
the  heat  of  the  acid  at  170°  Fahrenheit.4  Peter  Groves 
obtained  in  the  same  year  a  patent  for  making  white  lead 
by  roasting  galena,  grinding,  washing,  and  mixing  it  with 
nitrate  of  potash  and  introducing  it  into  a  closed  retort  or 
cylinder,  where  it  was  treated  with  sulphuric  acid  and 
steamed.  In  1833  a  method  was  suggested  for  an  im- 
provement in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  which  is  de- 
scribed as  follows :  "  Pieces  of  lead  of  the  shape  and  size 
of  duck-shot  are  placed  in  a  vessel  lined  with  lead,  and 

1  Abridgments  of  Specifications,  etc.,  p.  26.  2  Ibid.,  p.  36. 

•  Ibid.,  p.  37.  «  Ibid.,  p.  41. 


IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  287 

barely  covered  with  water.  The  vessel  is  rocked  from 
side  to  side,  and  the  pellets,  rolling  backwards  and  for- 
wards, produce  a  fine  powder  of  lead.  The  moist  powder 
is  passed  through  a  fine  sieve,  exposed  to  atmospheric 
air  for  ten  days  in  a  shallow  open  vessel,  with  frequent 
agitation,  until  it  assumes  a  beautiful  white  color.  "  White 
lead,  the  inventor  claimed,"  is  thus  made  without  the  use 
of  vinegar  or  acetic  acid,  and  without  the  aid  of  heat 
except  for  the  purpose  of  drying  it  after  it  is  made."  1 

Of  the  many  patents  for  improvements  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  white  lead  granted  in  England  in  the  early  years 
of  this  century,  but  few  have  been  noticed ;  it  will  thus  be 
seen  that  this  was  a  period  of  great  activity  and  ingenuity 
in  providing,  or  in  the  attempt  to  provide,  a  more  rational 
and  scientific  method  for  preparing  white  lead  than  the 
so-called  Dutch  process.  This  activity  has  continued  in 
an  intermittent  manner  to  the  present  day,  but  was  per- 
haps most  pronounced  between  the  years  1836  and  1841. 
It  would  be  tedious  and  profitless  to  examine  many  of 
these  suggested  methods,  since  few  of  them  offer  anything 
strikingly  original,  and  still  fewer  have  any  economic  or 
practical  value.  Gossage  and  Benson  patented  a  process 
in  1836,  which  Riffault  terms  an  improved  Kremnitz 
method.  This  process  consists  in  "  exposing  to  the  action 
of  carbonic  acid  gas  a  mixture  of  oxide  of  lead  with  acetic 
acid  or  acetate  of  lead  and  water,  in  such  proportions  that 
the  acetic  acid  would  not  be  capable  of  dissolving  more 
than  one  fourth  part  of  the  oxide  of  lead  when  assisted 
by  water."  The  mixture  was  spread  upon  trays  and 
stirred,  being  exposed  at  the  same  time  to  the  action  of 
carbon  dioxide,  lead  oxide  being  added  from  time  to  time, 
and  the  mixture  kept  damp  by  the  addition  of  water.2  In 
describing  this  as  an  improvement  upon  the  Kremnitz 
process,  Riffault  probably  supposed  the  kremserweiss  or 

1  Abridgments  of  Specifications,  etc.,  p.  44.  2  Ibid.  p.  47. 


288  WHITE  LEAD 

kremnitzerweiss  of  the  German  manufacturers  originated 
at  Kremnitz.  The  truth  is,  white  lead  has  never  been 
made,  in  economic  quantities  at  least,  at  Kremnitz ;  and 
no  factory  for  this  branch  of  manufacture  has  ever  been 
established  there.  The  term  kremnitzerweiss  is  a  cor- 
ruption of  kremserweiss,  a  name  given  to  the  product  of 
the  factory  at  Krems,  celebrated  in  the  last  century  for 
the  excellence  of  its  productions,  which  were  made  by  the 
Dutch  process. 

Another  method  for  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  is 
described  substantially  as  follows :  Metallic  lead  is  granu- 
lated and  is  placed  in  a  revolving  drum,  and  moistened 
from  time  to  time  with  a  solution  of  lead  acetate.  The 
lead  is  worn  into  fine  particles  by  attrition,  and  while 
the  mass  is  being  agitated,  carbon  dioxide  is  introduced, 
resulting  in  the  production  of  white  lead.  One  of  the 
most  novel  and  practical  of  the  numerous  methods  pro- 
posed was  patented  by  Pattinson  in  1849.  After  taking 
out  patents  in  1840  and  in  1841  for  processes  depending 
upon  the  reactions  of  carbonates  of  lime  and  of  magnesia 
upon  chloride  of  lead,  he  patented  his  process  for  the 
manufacture  of  oxichlorid  of  lead,  which  is  described  as 
"the  manufacture  of  oxichlorid  of  lead,  composed  of  one 
atom  of  oxide  of  lead,  one  atom  of  chloride  of  lead,  with 
or  without  an  atom  of  water,  by  the  use  of  chloride  of 
lead,  and  lime,  soda,  potash,  ammonia  or  baryta ;  lime  is 
preferred,  and  on  mixing  limewater  and  chloride  of  lead 
in  solution,  both  in  certain  proportions,  this  substance 
instantly  forms  and  subsides."  In  practice  the  lead  ore, 
galena,  "  is  ground  with  hydrochloric  acid,  and  in  thirty 
or  forty  hours  the  lead  and  associated  metals  in  the  ore 
are  converted  into  chlorides ;  a  portion,  however,  from 
seven  to  ten  per  cent,  is  either  unacted  upon,  or  converted 
into  sulphates  by  the  traces  of  sulphuric  acid  contained 
in  the  hydrochloric  acid.  The  impurities  are  eliminated, 


IN  GREAT  BRITAIN.  289 

and  the  mass  is  then  introduced  into  tubs  furnished  with 
agitators,  and  a  stream  of  hot  water  is  allowed  to  flow  in, 
the  chloride  of  lead  is  gradually  dissolved  and  precipitation 
is  effected  by  means  of  lime,  a  perfectly  clear  solution  of 
which  is  allowed  to  unite  in  a  stream  with  a  stream  of  the 
solution  of  chloride  of  lead." 

In  the  same  year,  1849,  a  patent  was  issued  for  a 
chamber  process  very  similar  in  its  specifications  to  the 
patent  granted  to  Sir  James  Creed  just  one  hundred  years 
before.  Undaunted  by  the  failure  of  every  new  process 
heretofore  invented  to  obtain  a  foothold,  except  Pattinson's 
oxichloride,  the  investigations  continued ;  and  though  the 
experimenters  frequently  grew  faint  and  weary,  yet  they 
still  pursued.  In  1853  two  patents  were  issued  for  the 
application  of  electric  currents  in  the  production  of  white 
lead,  —  followed  in  later  years  by  other  methods,  depending 
upon  the  precipitation  of  carbonate  of  lead,  by  carbonates 
of  soda  or  of  ammonia,  from  solutions  of  soluble  salts  of 
lead ;  the  treatment  of  the  ores,  sulphides,  and  carbonates 
by  roasting,  and  after  treatment  with  acetic  and  carbonic 
acids ;  desulphurizing  ores,  and  placing  the  product  in  "tan 
beds  in  the  usual  way  of  making  white  lead,"  and  intro- 
ducing hot  acetic  acid  through  pipes  into  the  bottom  of 
the  beds  ;  "  decomposing  sulphate  of  lead  by  pearl  ash  ;  " 
reducing  metallic  lead  to  a  spongy  state,  or  to  small  par- 
ticles, by  dropping  it  in  water,  or  by  centrifugal  force,  and 
treating  it  with  acetic  and  carbonic  acid.  A  patent  was 
issued  in  1866  for  the  preparation  of  sublimed  lead,  from 
the  chimneys  of  the  smelters,  by  treating  it  with  hydro- 
chloric acid,  and  precipitating  the  solution  of  chloride  of 
lead  with  sulphuric  or  carbonic  acid. 

The  sublimed-lead  process  patented  by  Lewis  and  Bart- 
lett  in  the  United  States  has  recently  been  introduced 
into  Great  Britain.  Extensive  plants  for  the  production 
of  this  substitute  for  white  lead  have  been  erected  at 

19 


290  WHITE  LEAD 

Glasgow,  and  at  Bristol,  the  latter  city  being  within  a 
hundred  miles  of  the  spot  where  Bishop  Watson,  more 
than  a  hundred  years  ago,  found  it  an  article  of  manufac- 
ture and  sale  to  the  painters. 

This  statement  of  methods  proposed  in  England  for  the 
manufacture  of  substitutes  for  white  lead  prepared  by  the 
Dutch  process  could  be  largely  extended,  but  enough  have 
been  cited,  perhaps,  to  show  the  wide  range  taken  by  ex- 
perimenters. Every  resource  of  chemistry  and  ingenuity 
seems  to  have  been  exhausted  in  the  effort  to  provide  a 
more  acceptable  method  for  the  production  of  white  lead 
than  that  persistently  held  to  by  the  principal  manufac- 
turers of  England  and  of  the  United  States.  Of  the 
hundreds  of  substitutes  suggested  and  patented,  but  one  or 
two  have  shown  the  least  persistence  in  England,  and  the 
output  of  such  as  have  survived  is  extremely  insignificant. 

These  modern  processes  rarely  give  any  greater  control 
over  the  chemical  reactions  than  is  afforded  by  the  Dutch 
method ;  the  character  of  the  product  is  more  irregular,  is 
generally  much  inferior  in  quality,  and  is  not  produced  at 
a  less  cost.  The  only  advantage  which  may  be  claimed 
is,  that  by  some  the  time  required  for  production  is  less, 
thus  rendering  it  unnecessary  to  carry  so  large  an  amount 
of  material  in  process  of  manufacture,  but  this  gain  is  more 
than  offset  by  the  uniformity  and  superiority  of  the  white 
lead  made  by  the  Dutch  process.  In  the  new  methods 
the  investment  in  plant  is  quite  as  large,  and  the  manipu- 
lation after  corrosion  is  generally  much  the  same,  as  by  the 
Dutch  process.  It  may  therefore,  perhaps,  be  claimed 
that  no  method  has  as  yet  been  devised  that  will  produce 
white  lead  equal  in  quality  to  that  made  by  the  ancient 
process  at  the  same  cost;  and  it  may  also  be  said  that 
no  substitute  for  white  lead  has  yet  been  found  possessing 
all  its  good  qualities.  It  stands  to-day,  notwithstanding 
its  well  known  imperfections,  unrivalled  as  a  white  pig- 


IN   GREAT  BRITAIN.  291 

ment  for  most  purposes  in  painting,  and  as  the  best  base 
for  colored  paints. 

As  stated  above,  the  principal  English  manufacturers 
adhere  to  the  Dutch  process  in  the  production  of  white 
lead.  Their  practice  varies  but  little  from  that  described 
by  Jars  as  in  use  in  Holland  and  in  England  in  1760. 
They  use  spent  tan-bark  as  a  source  of  heat  and  carbon 
dioxide.  And  the  pots  are  made  to  hold  the  acetic  acid 
only ;  the  lead,  cast  in  bars,  or  small  slabs  called  "  wickets," 
about  twelve  inches  long,  two  and  a  half  inches  wide,  and 
a  half  an  inch  thick,  is  placed  in  piles  directly  upon  these 
pots.  The  covering  of  the  layer  of  pots  consists  of  stout 
plank,  supported  at  intervals  by  short  pieces  of  scantling, 
resting  upon  planks  laid  upon  the  bed  of  tan,  instead  of 
being  laid  directly  upon  the  pots  which  contain  the  lead, 
as  is  the  practice  in  this  country  Newcastle  on  Tyne  is 
now  the  principal  seat  of  the  manufacture  in  England, 
but  important  establishments  exist  at  London,  Chester, 
Sheffield,  Bristol,  Glasgow,  and  at  other  cities  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  One  of  the  principal  manufacturers  in  Great 
Britain  estimates  the  annual  production  at  fifty  thousand 
tons.  This  is  distributed  by  British  enterprise  to  nearly 
every  quarter  of  the  civilized  world. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

WHITE    LEAD    IN    FRANCE. 

THE  establishment  of  the  manufacture  of  white  lead 
in  France  is  of  comparatively  recent  date.  The 
absence  of  deposits  of  lead  ore  comparable  in  extent  and 
richness  to  the  lead  fields  of  Spain  and  Germany  has  made 
France  dependent  upon  neighboring  nations  for  supplies  of 
raw  material.  Early  in  this  century  public  attention  was 
directed  to  this  branch  of  manufacturing  industry  by  the 
discoveries  of  an  eminent  French  chemist,  and  late  authori- 
ties agree  in  the  statement  that  the  manufacture  of  white 
lead  was  introduced  into  France  early  in  the  present  cen- 
tury. This  statement  is  not  quite  correct,  as  Gabriel  Jars, 
whose  observations  are  entirely  trustworthy,  refers  to  a 
small  establishment  in  operation  in  1767  at  Grenoble.1 

There  is  little  to  be  gleaned  relating  to  the  development 
of  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  from  the  works  of 
French  authors  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centu- 
ries, except  to  show  the  sources  from  which  the  French 
received  their  supplies,  and  the  customs  of  the  trade. 
Pomet  describes  the  Dutch  method  of  manufacture,  pre- 
sumably as  it  was  practised  in  Holland  in  his  time,  in  a 
sufficiently  accurate  manner,  and  much  as  it  is  described 
by  Jars  and  others  who  wrote  at  a  later  period.  After 
corrosion,  Pomet  says,  it  was  ground  in  water  and  put 
into  moulds,  "  and  so  made  into  little  cakes,  which  they 

1  Jars,  Voyages  Metallurgies,  vol.  ii. 


WHITE  LEAD  IN  FRANCE.  293 

dry  and  put  into  blue  papers  as  we  find  them."  Ceruse 
so  prepared  Pomet  declares  to  be  the  "  true  calx  of  lead." 
He  compares  it  with  that  in  general  use  in  France  at  that 
time,  which  was  imported  from  Holland  and  England,  and 
which  consisted,  he  says,  principally  of  common  chalk. 
The  custom  prevailed  in  Holland,  at  that  period,  of  sell- 
ing pieces  of  thoroughly  corroded  lead,  as  it  came  from 
the  beds  or  stacks,  —  selected  for  whiteness  and  hardness, — 
to  painters  and  artists,  who  preferred  it  in  this  condition, 
and  ground  it  themselves  in  water  to  insure  absolute 
purity.  This  lead  was  called  schieferweiss,  Wane  d'ecaittes, 
and  Wane  de  plomb.  The  Venetians  alone  preserved  the 
purity  of  white  lead,  and  Pomet  recommends  the  purchase 
of  Venetian  ceruse  only,  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  grind- 
ing it,  with  the  consequent  exposure  to  disease,  and  per- 
haps, he  suggests,  to  death  itself.  He  says,  "  The  Dutch 
grind  only  the  dust  of  the  lead,  which  comes  from  bruis- 
ing and  beating  their  spirals  as  they  come  from  the  stacks, 
and  as  this  dust  is  not  sufficient  to  supply  the  great  demand 
for  ceruse  in  France  and  in  other  European  countries,  they 
mix  a  sort  of  marl,  or  white  chalk,  with  it."  The  Eng- 
lish white  lead,  Pomet  claimed,  was  inferior  to  the  Dutch, 
because  they  mixed  more  chalk  with  it,  and  that  of  a 
darker  color.  Pomet  describes  the  characteristics  of 
ceruse,  of  approved  quality,  as  follows :  "  It  should  be 
extremely  white,  dry,  soft  and  friable,  the  least  broken,  or 
mixed  with  as  little  dust  as  possible ;  if  it  cracks  in  hand- 
ling it  has  not  been  well  dried."  * 

Savary,  Inspector-General  of  manufactures  at  the  Cus- 
tom House  at  Paris,  in  his  "  Universal  Dictionary  "  says  : 
"  They  use  in  Paris,  and  throughout  France,  as  well  as  in 
other  foreign  countries,  hardly  any  other  ceruse  but  that 
of  England  and  Holland."  He  describes  briefly  the  Dutch 
method,  generally  agreeing  with  authors  of  the  same  period 

1  M.  Pomet,  A  Compleat  History  of  Druggs,  vol.  ii.  p.  353. 


294  WHITE  LEAD 

in  the  details.  He  also  unites  with  other  writers  in  con- 
demning the  production  of  England  and  of  Holland,  on  ac- 
count of  the  gross  adulterations  practised  in  both  countries. 
"  The  English,"  he  remarks,  "  mixed  more  chalk  with  their 
lead  than  the  Dutch,  and  that  of  a  much  inferior  quality." 
The  Venetian  ceruse  was  still  considered  to  be  much  the 
best,  but  on  account  of  its  high  cost  it  was  but  little  used. 
The  painters  of  his  time  used  ceruse  both  as  an  oil  and  a 
water-color,  "  and  it  made  a  beautiful  white."  The  ladies, 
according  to  this  authority,  still  used  ceruse  as  they  did  in 
Pliny's  time,  "  to  beautify  their  complexions." l 

The  French  continued  to  draw  their  principal  supplies  of 
white  lead  from  England  and  Holland  until  the  beginning 
of  this  century.  In  the  "History  of  Inventions,"  etc., 
during  the  year  1812,  a  description  is  given  of  a  process  of 
manufacturing  white  lead  invented  by  Montgolfier.  By 
this  process  lead  is  cut  into  thin  plates,  by  passing  it  over 
sharp  knives  or  points  ;  these  plates  are  then  suspended  in 
a  large  rectangular  box,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  allow  free 
circulation  of  air  ;  a  suitable  furnace  is  prepared,  the  chim- 
ney of  which,  placed  upon  the  dome  of  the  furnace,  after 
attaining  an  elevation  of  ten  or  fifteen  feet,  is  made  to 
take  a  horizontal  direction,  leading  into  a  cask,  in  the 
lower  part  of  which  a  quantity  of  vinegar  is  placed ;  this 
cask  is  connected  with  the  rectangular  box  by  a  flue.  The 
furnace,  being  charged  with  charcoal  is  fired  and  the  gas- 
eous products  of  combustion,  passing  through  the  chimney 
and  into  the  cask,  heat  the  vinegar ;  the  vapors  of  acetic 
acid  thus  produced  mix  with  the  carbon  dioxide  resulting 
from  the  combustion  of  the  charcoal,  and  pass  into  the 
rectangular  box  in  which  the  plates  of  lead  are  suspended. 
The  conditions  necessary  for  the  production  of  white  lead 
are  thus  supplied.2  M.  Chaillot  de  Prusse,  of  Paris, 

1  Savary,  Universal  Dictionary,  translated  by  M.  Postlethwayt,  London,  1751. 

2  Histoire  des  Inventions,  etc.,  dans  1812  (Paris,  1814),  vol.  v.  p.  200. 


IN  FRANCE.  295 

proposed  dryers  or  heaters  to  provide  the  necessary  heat  in 
the  corrosion  of  lead.  The  heaters,  in  the  form  of  tunnels 
or  flues,  were  built  of  brick,  six  feet  long,  and  twelve  inches 
high ;  several  of  these  flues  were  built  upon  the  floor  of  a 
room,  and  all  were  heated  by  means  of  a  stove  placed  in  the 
middle.  Upon  the  top  of  these  flues  a  brick  base  and  side 
walls  were  erected  for  the  reception  of  stone  pots,  which 
were  provided  with  gratings  of  the  same  material  placed 
in  them  at  about  two  thirds  their  depth.  Boiling  vinegar, 
in  which  small  quantities  of  blue  vitriol  had  been  dissolved, 
was  poured  into  the  pot,  "  care  being  taken  that  the  vine- 
gar should  not  rise  in  the  pot  so  as  to  touch  the  lead." 
After  the  lead  had  been  filled  into  the  pots  they  were  cov- 
ered, sealed,  and  placed  in  the  receptacle  prepared  for  them 
on  top  of  the  flues  or  heat-conductors,  with  six  inches  of 
tan-bark  underneath  and  ten  inches  above,  "  in  order  that 
the  heat  may  be  concentrated."  The  room  was  kept  at  a 
temperature  of  20°  C.,  and  a  month  was  required  to  com- 
plete the  reaction.  This  inventor  gives  elaborate  instruc- 
tions respecting  the  preparation  of  the  chalk  with  which 
the  ceruse  should  be  adulterated.1 

Early  in  this  century  works  were  established  at  Clichy, 
near  Paris,  for  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  by  the  pro- 
cess of  Thenard.  By  this  method  litharge  is  dissolved  in 
acetic  acid,  producing  a  solution  of  basic  acetate  of  lead, 
through  which  a  current  of  carbon  dioxide  is  passed ;  the 
reaction  gives  a  precipitate  of  carbonate  of  lead  and  a  solu- 
tion of  neutral  acetate ;  litharge  is  now  added  to  the  solu- 
tion, and  subacetate  of  lead  again  obtained,  which  is  treated 
as  the  first,  and  thus  the  operation  is  made,  in  a  way,  con- 
tinuous. This  measure  is  entirely  rational  and  completely 
under  control.  The  product  is  very  fine  and  white,  but  it 
is  much  inferior  in  opacity  to  the  white  lead  made  by  the 
Dutch  process.  It  has  been  used  in  France  for  many  years, 

1  Histoire  des  Inventions,  etc.,  IS  12. 


296  WHITE  LEAD 

and  to  a  small  extent,  some  years  ago,  it  was  distributed 
to  other  countries  of  Europe.  The  works  at  Clichy  had 
attained  considerable  proportions  as  early  as  1809,  when 
exhaustive  experiments  were  made  at  Paris  to  prove  the 
great  superiority  of  lead  made  by  this  process  over  the 
ceruse  de  Hollande.1  Writers  of  the  early  part  of  this  cen- 
tury are  unanimous  in  their  statements  of  the  prevalence 
of  the  custom  of  adulterating  white  lead,  and  nearly  all 
condemn  it.  The  confusion  respecting  the  name  given  to 
the  purer  and  better  variety  is  exasperating.  In  the  sev- 
enteenth and  eighteenth  centuries  authors  recommend  the 
white  lead  of  the  Venetians  as  the  purest  and  best,  but  in 
the  early  part  of  the  present  century  that  product  disap- 
peared from  the  markets  of  the  European  countries  north 
of  the  Alps.  The  enterprise  of  the  Dutch  and  of  the 
English,  their  proximity  to  the  sources  of  supply  of  raw 
material,  together  with  their  unscrupulous  use  of  adulter- 
ants, enabled  them  to  undersell  the  Venetians  and  to  un- 
dermine their  trade.  Some  authors  of  the  period  under 
consideration  declare  that  the  only  pure  white  lead  sold 
was  the  schieferweiss,  blanc  de  plomb  en  ecailles,  —  pieces  of 
corroded  lead  as  it  came  from  the  beds,  or  stacks,  and  with- 
out any  grinding  or  washing. 

According  to  Merimee,  white  lead  was  the  only  white 
used  in  painting.  It  was  made,  he  says,  by  different 
methods,  resulting  in  products  of  diverse  quality,  known 
in  commerce  under  the  names,  ceruse,  blanc  de  plomb.  blanc 
en  ecailles,  blanc  de  Krems,  and  blanc  d'argent.  Ceruse, 
and  particularly  ceruse  de  Hollande,  he  tells  us,  was  for  a 
long  time  reputed  to  be  the  best ;  but  "  it  was  of  a  dirty 
white  color  and  used  principally  to  paint  buildings."  Ceruse 
was  frequently  mixed  with  chalk,  and  ceruse  d'Allemagne 
contained  a  large  proportion  of  sulphate  of  barytes,  but 

1  See  Libraire  Classique,  Larousse  et  Boyer  (Paris,  1867),  vol.  iii.  p.  790  ; 
also  Archives  des  Decouverts  et  des  Inventions  (Paris,  1824),  vol.  vi.  p.  240. 


IN  FRANCE.  297 

the  ceruse  de  Hollande  of  the  first  quality  was  without  any 
admixture.  Flake-white  was  whiter  than  common  ceruse, 
and  could  be  made  as  white  as  Krems  white  if  care  was 
used  in  its  preparation.  It  was  not  falsified  in  any  degree, 
and  the  color  merchants  sold  it  under  the  name  of  ~blanc 
ordinaire.  Merimee  describes  the  Dutch  process  in  the 
usual  way,  except,  in  referring  to  the  temperature  of  the 
stack,  he  says  the  heat  should  not  be  allowed  to  go  above 
35°  to  40°  centigrade.  The  plates  of  lead  that  were  used 
to  cover  the  pots  furnished  the  scales  or  flakes  —  the  flake- 
white  of  the  shops.  The  spirals  which  were  placed  in  the 
pots  were  beaten  after  corrosion,  and  the  corroded  lead  was 
ground  in  water  and  washed.  The  pulp  was  filled  into 
conical  earthenware  pots  and  dried,  taking  the  well  known 
pyramidal  form. 

Merime'e  recommends  the  use  of  wetted  chaff,  or  spent 
tan-bark,  to  avoid  the  discoloration  often  observed  in  the 
lead  when  stable-litter  is  used.  Some  manufacturers  added 
to  the  vinegar  substances  capable  of  disengaging  carbon 
dioxide. 

In  describing  the  manufacture  of  Wane  de  Krems,  Meri- 
mee says  the  plates  of  lead  are  exposed  to  the  vapors  of 
vinegar  and  carbon  dioxide  in  boxes  of  pine  wood,  which 
are  rendered  impervious  to  moisture  by  a  coating  of  resin. 
The  plates,  bent  in  the  shape  of  a  chevron,  are  disposed 
upon  laths  suspended  on  a  ledge  placed  in  the  interior 
of  the  boxes,  the  plates  being  separated  from  one  another 
and  from  the  sides  of  the  box.  To  produce  carbon  dioxide 
the  lees  of  wine  or  crude  tartar  are  added  to  the  vinegar ; 
occasionally  the  same  result  is  attained  by  the  addition  of 
bits  of  marble.  The  boxes  are  closed,  and  placed  upon  a 
heated  flue,  which  runs  around  the  room  and  carries  the 
temperature  to  30°  centigrade,  "  above  which  it  should  not 
be  allowed  to  rise,  or  the  vinegar  will  evaporate  too  rapidly 
and  much  vapor  will  be  lost.  Fifteen  days  are  required  to 


298  WHITE  LEAD 

complete  the  operation,  and  the  product,  which  is  not  as 
hard  as  that  made  by  the  Dutch  method,  does  not  require 
grinding,  a  simple  levigation  only  being  necessary.  After 
washing,  the  pulp  is  filled  into  earthenware  vases  and  dried 
in  the  same  chamber  in  which  it  is  produced."  "  Blanc  de 
Krems"  this  author  confesses,  "has  less  body  than  Wane 
d'ecailles,  because  the  molecules  are  more  divided;  but 
equal  weight  will  cover  a  greater  surface.  When  newly 
prepared  it  has  a  strong  odor  of  vinegar."  x 

Merimee  refers  to  the  discovery  by  Thenard  of  a  means 
of  restoring  to  their  original  whiteness  surfaces  painted 
with  white  lead  which  have  become  discolored  by  the  ac- 
tion of  hydrogen  sulphide.  This  process  consists  simply 
in  treating  the  surface  with  oxygenated  water.  This  water 
instantly  converts  the  lead  sulphide,  which  is  black,  —  and 
which  is  formed  upon  the  surface  of  white  lead  by  the 
hydrogen  sulphide, — into  lead  sulphate,  which  is  white. 
It  will  be  remarked  that  some  of  the  writers  of  this  period, 
in  describing  the  Dutch  process,  caution  against  allowing 
the  temperature  to  rise  above  what  in  more  modern  practice 
is  considered  a  low  range.  Merimee  mentions  35°  to  40° 
centigrade.  A  reason  for  this  precaution  is  given  by  a 
French  writer  on  chemistry,  M.  Baudrimont,  who  says 
that  when  the  temperature  of  the  stack  falls  below  35° 
centigrade  the  ceruse  becomes  gray,  because  it  contains 
some  metallic  lead;  and  if  the  temperature  exceeds  50° 
it  will  become  yellow ;  but  he  fails  to  account  for  this  last 
phenomenon.2 

An  ingenious  method  for  the  preparation  of  white  lead 
was  suggested  some  years  since  by  De  Rostaing.  He 
allowed  a  continuous  stream  of  molten  lead  to  fall  upon 
a  metallic  disk,  revolving  at  the  rate  of  two  thousand  rev- 
olutions per  minute.  The  lead  was  thrown  with  great  force 

1  See  J.  F.  L.  Merim6e,  De  la  Peinture  k  PHuile,  pp.  222,  227  et  seq. 

2  A  Baudrimont,  Traite  de  Chimie  (Paris,  1846),  vol.  ii.  p.  187. 


IN  FRANCE.  299 

tangentially  to  the  circumference  of  the  disk,  and  being 
hot  was  said  to  rapidly  oxidize  in  its  passage  through  the 
air.  The  lead  was  afterwards  changed  into  white  lead  by 
the  action  of  acetic  acid  and  carbon  dioxide.1 

According  to  Leuchs  the  first  factory  established  in 
France  for  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  was  located  at 
Pontoise.  The  works  of  Lefevre  and  Company,  at  Lille, 
were  erected  about  1825.  The  method  in  use  here  was  the 
Dutch  process.  In  1829  there  were  other  establishments 
in  France  for  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  by  the  Dutch 
method,  notably  at  Paris,  Orleans,  and  Yergennes ;  the 
production  at  the  latter  factory  amounted  in  1829  to 
500,000  kilos.  At  Portillon,  near  Tours,  the  establishment 
of  Messrs.  Lallu  and  Delaunay  had,  according  to  Riffault, 
adopted  the  method  of  Thenard.2 

The  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  France  is  at  present 
suffering  from  the  strong  competition  of  the  German  and 
English  makers,  who,  notwithstanding  the  protection  af- 
forded to  the  domestic  manufacturer  by  a  moderate  import 
duty,  are  enabled,  by  their  abundant  supply  of  raw  mate- 
rial and  by  more  economical  methods,  to  force  the  price  of 
white  lead  in  France  to. a  point  which  admits  of  no  profit 
to  the  home  manufacturer.  The  works  at  Clichy  are  said 
to  be  no  longer  operated.  The  method  of  Th&iard  has 
not  secured  such  a  position  in  public  favor  as  was  pre- 
dicted at  the  time  of  the  exhaustive  experiments  and  tests 
made  in  1809,  to  show  its  superiority  over  lead  made 
by  the  ancient  process.  At  Lille,  the  most  important 
seat  of  the  industry  in  France,  there  are  eight  white-lead 
factories  of  considerable  importance,  and  three  smaller 
establishments.  The  larger  factories  now  employ  the 
Dutch  method ;  one  is  said  to  produce  1,700  to  2,000  tons 

1  Abridgments  of  Specifications,  etc.,  p.  228. 

.  2  See  Riffault,  A  Practical  Treatise,  etc.,  p.  79  et  seq. ;  also  J.  Ch.  Leuchs, 
Traite  Complet  des  Proprietes,  etc.,  p.  7. 


300  WHITE  LEAD. 

annually.     There  are  several  factories  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Paris. 

Consul  Williams  says  that  the  French  manufacturers 
complain  of  the  unprofitable  character  of  the  business. 
A  syndicate  of  manufacturers,  formed  in  Paris  to  sustain 
prices,  was  dissolved  in  December,  1886. l 

1  U.  S.  Consular  Report,  No.  75,  Washington,  1887  :  Report  of  Consul  Charles 
P.  Williams,  p.  580. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

WHITE   LEAD   IN   GERMANY   AND   AUSTRO-HUNGARY. 

LEFORT  says  that  the  manufacture  of  ceruse  passed 
from  Venice  to  Krems,  then  to  Holland  and  Eng- 
land. There  seems  to  be  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  in- 
dustry was  established  in  Germany  as  early  as  or  perhaps 
before  its  introduction  into  Holland.  A  factory  was  es- 
tablished at  Krems  at  a  very  early  period,  and  its  products 
became  celebrated  for  excellence  throughout  Europe,  under 
the  name  of  kremsenveiss.  Watin  refers  to  this  product, 
and  says  it  was  much  in  favor.  He  describes  Krems  as 
"  a  little  town  in  the  Basse  Autriche."  It  is  possible  that 
the  manufacture  was  still  conducted  at  Krems  in  Watin' s 
time,  1774,  though  Leuchs,  writing  in  1829,  says  :  "  The 
name  Jcremserweiss  originated  at  the  factory  at  Krems, 
but  the  factory  has  long  since  disappeared."  Gentele  says  : 
"  The  origin  of  the  name  kremserweiss  is  doubtful,  but 
the  term  has  been  used  for  very  many  years  to  distinguish 
the  best  white  lead,  and  many  German  and  Austrian 
manufacturers  place  it  upon  the  very  highest  grades  of 
their  production." 1  Occasionally  the  term  Jcremnitzer- 
weiss,  or  chremnitzerweiss,  is  used  instead  of  kremsenveiss  ; 
but,  as  before  observed,  white  lead  has  never  been  made  at 
Kremnitz,  and  these  terms  or  names  are  commonly  used 
by  German  and  Austrian  manufacturers ;  but  they  invari- 

1  Lefort,  Chimie  des  Couleurs  (Paris,  1855) ;  J.  Ch.  Leuchs,  Traite  Complet, 
~etc.,  p.  7  ;  Watin,  L'Art  du  Peintre,  p.  17  ;  J.  G.  Gentele,  Lehrbuch  der  Far- 
benfabrikation,  p.  110. 


302  WHITE   LEAD 

ably  distinguish   the  choicest  productions  when  used  by 
respectable  and  trustworthy  manufacturers. 

Boerhaave,  in  his  "  Elements  of  Chemistry/'  published  in 
1724,  describes  a  laboratory  experiment  in  making  white 
lead,  in  which  it  is  proposed  to  make  lead  acetate  at  the 
same  time  and  in  the  same  apparatus.  He  says  a  glass 
retort  should  be  cut  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  a  very 
long  mouth ;  an  alembic  head  of  glass  is  then  fitted  to 
this,  some  vinegar  is  put  in  the  body,  and  a  number  of 
thin  plates  of  lead  are  placed  in  the  head,  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  allow  them  to  stand  erect  and  somewhat  apart. 
The  body  of  the  apparatus  should  then  be  set  in  a  sand- 
bath  for  twelve  hours.  When  unluting  the  apparatus, 
the  receiver,  which  has  been  fitted  to  the  head,  will  be 
found  to  contain  a  sweet  styptic  liquor,  turbid  and  nause- 
ous, called  the  acetate  of  lead ;  and  the  plates  of  lead  will 
be  found  to  be  covered  with  a  white,  dusty  matter,  which 


is  ceruse.1 


A  process  of  making  white  lead  is  described  in  Zedler's 
"  Universal  Lexicon,"  edition  of  1733.  It  is  probably  the 
method  in  use  in  Germany  at  that  time.  This  descrip- 
tion varies  but  little  from  the  practice  in  Holland  and 
England  at  that  period.  The  lead  was  cast  in  sheets, 
rolled  in  spirals,  and  placed  in  earthen  pots  over  vinegar ; 
the  pots  were  then  sealed  and  put  in  a  warm  place  for 
four  weeks.  The  whitest  and  most  brittle  portions  of  the 
resulting  white  lead,  "those  pieces  thoroughly  corroded 
within  and  without,"  were  put  aside  to  be  sold  to  the 
artists.  Other  portions  were  ground  with  water  and 
formed  into  "  blocks  like  pyramids,  and  were  wrapped  in 
blue  paper  rather  than  any  other  color,  so  that  the  white 
will  seem  yet  whiter."  In  these  papers,  it  is  said,  the 
white  lead  was  sent  to  Holland  and  England.2 

1  Hermann  Boerhaave,  Elements  of  Chemistry,  London,  1735. 
8  Zedler,  Universal  Lexicon,  vol.  iv.,  article  Bleiweiss. 


IN  GERMANY  AND  AUSTRO-HUNGARY.  303 

In  1758,  according  to  Von  Justi,  the  demand  for  white 
lead  in  Prussia  was  greater  than  the  manufacturers  were 
able  to  supply.  This  author  describes  two  methods  which 
may  be  employed,  but  in  each  these  "two  conditions 
must  be  observed  :  first,  the  lead  must  not  be  allowed  to 
touch  the  acid ;  and  second,  a  gentle  heat  is  necessary  to 
volatilize  the  vinegar."  The  first  method  is  described  as 
being  purely  that  of  distillation.  It  is  recommended  that 
vessels  of  tin  be  employed  instead  of  copper  or  iron,  which 
would  be  attacked  by  the  acid,  or  of  earthenware,  which 
are  too  fragile.  The  still  or  vessel  was  provided  with  a 
suitable  and  rather  tall  cap  and  the  requisite  tubes.  It 
was  half  filled  with  good  wine  vinegar,  above  which  the 
lead  was  placed,  cast  in  sheets  and  rolled,  and  supported 
so  that  it  did  not  touch  the  vinegar.  Thus  prepared,  the 
vessel  was  exposed  to  a  gentle  heat  over  a  slow  fire,  to 
volatilize  the  vinegar.  This  warming  was  repeated  several 
times  until  the  sheets  of  lead  were  entirely  corroded  and 
transformed  into  white  lead.  The  second  method  is  de- 
scribed as  being  much  the  same  as  the  first,  except  that 
the  vessel  is  entirely  closed,  and  the  heat  used  is  much 
less,  so  that  the  vapors,  condensing  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  vessel,  fall  back  into  the  bottom,  carrying  with  them 
some  lead  in  solution,  which  was  afterwards  utilized  in 
the  manufacture  of  lead  acetate.  In  these  cases  sub- 
stances capable  of  disengaging  carbon  dioxide  were  doubt- 
less present  in,  or  added  to,  the  vinegar. 

The  corroded  lead  was  "  rubbed  in  very  gentle  fashion  " 
upon  huge  stones,  and  at  the  same  time  moistened  with 
water,  forming  a  pulp,  and  then  moulded  into  pyramidal 
shapes  and  dried  in  the  air  in  summer,  and  in  a  moder- 
ately heated  room  in  winter.  Yon  Justi  remarks  upon 
the  gross  adulterations  practised  by  the  English  and  Dutch. 
In  England  and  in  Berlin,  he  informs  us,  a  portion  is  un- 
adulterated, but  in  that  case  it  is  called  schiefenoeiss  or 


304  WHITE  LEAD 

schulpweiss,  in  Latin  cerussa  lamellata.  "  Those/'  he  says, 
"who  imagine  that  schiefenveiss  is  composed  of  tin  are 
mistaken.  The  schieferweiss  of  commerce  is  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  the  best  and  purest  white  lead,  with  no  trace 
of  tin."  In  these  descriptions  Von  Justi  appears  to  follow 
Boerhaave  in  his  account  of  the  manufacture  of  white 
lead  by  the  process  he  calls  distillation. 

Yon  Justi  also  describes  the  process  in  use  in  the  fac- 
tory at  Berlin,  which  was  the  same  as  is  described  by 
Jars  as  practised  at  Amsterdam  and  at  Rotterdam.  Von 
Justi  adds  the  curious  statement  that  "  the  workmen  who 
have  had  the  most  experience  in  the  manufacture  declare 
that  stallion-dung  is  the  best  for  the  purpose  of  fermenta- 
tion, and  are  careful  never  to  use  that  of  mares. 

It  was  the  custom  at  that  early  period  with  some  manu- 
facturers to  grind  white  lead  in  vinegar  for  the  purpose  of 
making  it  whiter.  They  had  authority  for  this  in  the 
recommendation  of  Fra  Fortunate,  of  Rovigo,  in  1659, 2 
and  the  practice  has  not  been  entirely  abandoned  in 
Germany  and  Italy  since  that  time.  White  lead,  after 
being  ground  in  oil,  was  packed  in  earthen  jars,  and  the 
tops  were  covered  with  water  three  or  four  inches  deep,  to 
preserve  the  color  and  "  to  prevent  the  formation  of  the 
skin  which  would  be  so  troublesome." 

Kriinitz  says  that  white  lead  was  used  as  a  basis  for 
all  colors.  "  It  has  more  consistence,  and  makes  a  finer 
and  more  brilliant  white ;  it  makes  all  other  colors  better, 
because  it  covers  better  and  makes  them  go  further ; 
and  besides,  it  dries  more  easily.  There  is  no  advantage 
in  adulteration,  because  pure  white  lead  allows  you  to 
cover  a  surface  with  less  quantity,  and  so  in  the  end  goes 
further  than  the  adulterated."  3 

1  Von  Justi,  Vollstandige  Abhandlung,  etc.,  p.  518  et  seq. 

2  See  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  p.  151. 

8  Johann  Georg  Kriinitz,  Oeconomische  Encyclopedic,  1787,  vol.  v.  p.  718  et  seq. 


IN  GERMANY  AND   AUSTRO-HUNGARY.  305 

The  Dutch  method  was  in  general  use  in  Germany  un- 
til comparatively  recent  times,  and  stable-litter  was  em- 
ployed as  the  source  of  heat  and  carbon  dioxide ;  it  has 
been  superseded,  however,  by  the  chamber  process,  or  the 
German  method,  as  it  is  generally  termed.  This  modifica- 
tion of  the  Dutch  process  consists  in  substituting  specially 
built  closed  chambers  for  the  stack  or  bed,  and  artificial 
heat  for  the  heat  generated  by  the  decomposition  of 
masses  of  stable-litter,  or  spent  tan-bark,  or  other  organic 
substances,  as  used  in  the  Dutch  process.  Sometimes, 
however,  the  floors  of  the  chamber  in  which  the  lead  cast 
in  sheets  and  suspended  on  laths  is  placed  are  covered 
with  spent  tan-bark,  or  other  fermentable  material,  which 
is  saturated  with  vinegar,  —  this  arrangement  furnishing 
the  gases  necessary  for  the  conversion  of  the  lead,  as  well 
as  the  heat,  which  is  also  a  prime  factor  in  this  transfor- 
mation. Occasionally  the  plates  of  lead  are  suspended 
within  wooden  boxes  which  contain  the  acetic  acid,  the 
boxes  being  ranged  along  the  floor  of  the  closed  chamber. 
It  was  formerly  customary  to  mix  with  the  acid  wine 
lees,  carbonate  of  potash,  bits  of  marble,  or  other  sub- 
stances capable  of  disengaging,  during  decomposition,  car- 
bon dioxide.  In  later  times  this  necessary  element  in  the 
production  of  true  white  lead  has  been  obtained  from  the 
combustion  of  coal,  coke,  or  charcoal,  or  by  other  means, 
but  it  must  be  properly  washed  and  purified  before  passing 
into  the  chamber. 

The  manufacture  of  white  lead  by  the  Dutch  process 
was  established  at  Klagenfurth,  in  Carinthia,  as  early,  it  is 
claimed,  as  1760.  A  modification  of  the  Dutch  method, 
called  by  Gentele  the  "  Klagenfurth  process,"  was  substi- 
tuted for  the  old  method  in  1835.  This  new  process  has 
since  been  adopted  by  manufacturers  at  Villach,  St.  Veit, 
Wolfsberg,  and  at  other  places  in  Carinthia.  The  product 
of  these  factories  has  the  reputation  of  being  of  very 

20 


306  WHITE  LEAD 

superior  quality,  not  attributable  perhaps  altogether  to  the 
method  employed  in  the  manufacture,  but  in  part  to  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  metallic  lead  produced  in  the  district,  —  the 
celebrated  "  Villacher  "  lead  from  the  mines  at  Bleiberg. 

The  Klagenfurth  process  is  a  modification  of  the  Dutch 
method.  The  vapors  of  acetic  acid,  and  of  carbon  dioxide, 
in  an  elevated  temperature,  act  upon  metallic  lead.  The 
modification  consists  in  the  manner  of  producing  the  car- 
bon dioxide,  the  acetic  acid  vapors,  and  in  artificially 
heating  the  chamber,  or  stack. 

The  manufacture  is  conducted  in  solidly  built  closed 
rooms  provided  with  double  floors.  The  first  floor,  which 
is  the  ground  floor,  is  occupied  by  a  furnace,  so  arranged 
as  to  be  fed  from  the  outside ;  the  stone  flue  of  this  fur- 
nace passes  on  the  ground  from  one  end  of  the  room  to 
the  other,  and  then  passes  up  through  the  upper  room 
and  the  roof  to  the  outer  air.  This  furnace,  with  its  flue, 
is  used  for  heating  the  upper  room.  The  upper  floor  is 
formed  of  boards,  loosely  put  together  in  order  that  the 
heat  from  below  may  freely  pass  into  and  warm  it.  Upon 
this  floor  water-tight  boxes  are  placed,  with  spaces  be- 
tween and  around  them  so  that  access  may  be  had  to 
them  at  all  times.  These  boxes  are  provided  with  strong 
covers,  which  are  pierced  with  holes  to  allow  free  passage 
to  the  gases  which  may  be  evolved  from  their  contents. 
A  strong  framework  is  erected  upon  these  boxes  extend- 
ing quite  to  the  roof,  and  so  arranged  as  to  carry  short 
sticks,  upon  which  the  lead,  previously  cast  in  long  and 
thin  plates  and  bent,  can  be  hung.  When  the  framework 
over  the  boxes  is  filled  with  lead,  the  spaces  between  the 
boxes  are  also  filled ;  this  is  accomplished  by  placing 
sticks  across  the  passageways,  resting  them  at  either  end 
upon  the  framework.  This  operation  is  continued  until 
the  chamber  above  the  level  of  the  boxes  is  completely 
filled  with  plates  of  lead  hung  upon  sticks.  The  work- 


IN  GERMANY  AND  AUSTRO-HUNGARY.  307 

men  then  fill  into  the  boxes  a  quantity  of  vinegar,  and 
also  a  quantity  of  the  extract  of  raisins,  or  dried  grapes. 
The  fires  are  now  started,  and  the  heat,  ascending  to  the 
upper  room,  in  which  the  boxes  containing  the  liquid 
mixture  and  the  plates  of  lead  are  arranged,  gradually 
warms  the  contents  of  the  boxes,  and  the  vinous  fermenta- 
tion begins  in  the  sweetish  fluid  ;  this  reaction  disengages 
carbon  dioxide  in  considerable  quantities.  The  acetic  fer- 
mentation also  starts  in  the  alcohol  produced  by  the 
vinous  fermentation  ;  thus  both  reactions  are  in  process 
at  the  same  time.  The  heat  also  volatilizes  the  vinegar, 
and  in  a  short  time  the  chamber  is  filled  with  the  vapors 
of  carbon  dioxide,  of  acetic  acid  and  steam  ;  the  lead  is 
warmed,  and  all  the  conditions  demanded  by  the  Dutch 
method  are  present.  The  workmen  enter  the  chamber 
from  time  to  time  to  stir  up  the  mass  in  the  boxes,  to 
draw  off  the  vinegar  if  it  becomes  too  concentrated,  and 
to  add  fresh  material  as  it  is  needed. 

The  resulting  product  is  exceptionally  clean  and  white. 
The  carbon  dioxide  produced  by  the  vinous  fermentation 
is  free  from  soot,  hydrogen  sulphide,  and  other  deleterious 
impurities  so  common  to  this  substance  when  produced 
by  the  combustion  of  coke  or  of  other  forms  of  carbon. 
Much  of  the  white  lead  as  it  is  formed  flakes  off  and  drops 
upon  the  boxes  or  upon  the  floor,  rendering  it  necessary 
to  use  extreme  care  on  the  part  of  the  workmen  to  avoid 
staining  or  injury  to  the  color  of  the  product.1  Gmelin 
refers  to  what  he  terms  a  new  German  method.  This  is 
perhaps  the  original  chamber  method  introduced  into 
Germany.  Plates  of  lead  were  suspended  in  wooden 
boxes  into  which  a  quantity  of  vinegar  had  been  poured. 
The  boxes  were  arranged  in  closed  chambers.  The  floors 
were  covered  with  spent  tan-bark  wetted  with  vinegar. 
These  chambers  were  artificially  heated,  and  the  vapors 

1  J.  G.  Gentele,  Lehrbuch  der  Farbenfabrikation,  p*  135  etseq. 


308  WHITE  LEAD 

of  acetic  acid  produced  by  the  heated  vinegar,  and  of  car- 
bon dioxide  evolved  in  the  decomposition  of  the  tan-bark 
effected  the  corrosion  of  the  lead.1  According  to  Preschel, 
white  lead  was  made  at  Frankfort  early  in  this  century 
by  precipitation,  or  the  Thenard  process.2  This  method 
is  still  in  use,  it  is  said,  in  some  factories  in  the  Rhenish 
provinces. 

An  ingenious  process  was  suggested  by  Schuzenbach,  of 
Freiburg.  He  placed  in  a  heated  chamber  wooden  tubs 
which  were  filled  alternately  with  layers  of  shavings 
wetted  with  acetic  acid  and  with  plates  of  lead.  The  tubs 
were  kept  closed  for  a  time,  and  then  opened  and  the 
plates  of  lead  removed.  The  white  lead  which  had 
formed  upon  the  plates  was  washed  off,  the  shavings 
moistened  again  with  acid,  the  uncorroded  lead  replaced, 
and  the  operation  renewed.3 

At  Eisenach,  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  is  now  con- 
ducted by  what  Gentele  terms  the  "  Dampfloogen,"  or  steam- 
chamber,  process.  This  also  is  a  modification  of  the  Dutch 
method,  and  is  considered  to  be  an  improvement  on  the 
Klagenfurth  process.  It  is  referred  to  by  some  writers  as 
a  new  invention,  but  it  differs  in  no  essential  particular 
from  the  method  patented  by  Sir  James  Creed,  in  England, 
in  1749,  nearly  a  hundred  years  earlier  than  the  date  of 
its  introduction  in  Germany. 

A  series  of  rooms  are  arranged  in  a  strong  building,  hav- 
ing heavy  walls  of  brick  or  stone ;  each  room  has  an  arched 
roof  of  stone  or  slate  and  is  provided  with  a  false  floor, 
some  five  feet  above  the  main  floor.  In  this  space  be- 
tween the  floors  furnaces  are  erected  to  provide  carbon 
dioxide  by  the  combustion  of  fuel,  and  vapors  of  acetic  acid 

1  Gmelin,  Handbook  of  Chemistry,  vol.  v.  p.  118. 

2  J.  S.  Preschel,  Technologische  Encyclopedic   (Stuttgart,   1830),  vol.  ii., 
article  Blei. 

8  Riffault,  A  Practical  Treatise,  etc.,  p.  111. 


IN  GERMANY  AND  AUSTRO-HUNGARY.  309 

by  heating  dilute  vinegar  in  open  kettles,  or  by  other 
suitable  means.  The  lead  is  hung  in  the  upper  compart- 
ment in  a  manner  much  the  same  as  at  Klagenfurth ; 
apertures  are  provided,  to  be  opened  or  closed  at  pleasure, 
for  the  admission  of  fresh  air.  The  chambers  when  filled 
contain  from  ten  to  fifteen  tons  of  metallic  lead,  cast  in 
long  thin  plates  and  hung  over  laths  or  sticks. 

When  the  chamber  is  completely  filled  with  lead  the 
window-blinds  and  doors  are  closed,  the  fire  is  started 
under  the  receptacle  containing  the  dilute  acetic  acid,  and 
fresh  air  is  allowed  to  flow  in  and  mix  with  the  acetic 
acid  vapors.  After  two  or  three  days  the  lead  will  be 
found  to  be  covered  with  drops  of  moisture,  and  basic  lead 
acetate  is  formed;  carbon  dioxide  is  now  sent  into  the 
chamber,  and  the  supply  of  fresh  air  is  partly  shut  off ; 
the  fires  are  kept  up  and  the  temperature  rises  until  it 
reaches  70°  or  90°  centigrade  (158°  to  194°  Fahrenheit). 
These  conditions  are  steadily  maintained,  the  workmen 
examining  the  condition  of  the  lead  from  time  to  time 
and  regulating  the  flow  of  acid  vapors,  of  carbon  dioxide, 
or  of  air,  as  experience  teaches  produces  the  best  results. 
In  about  three  weeks  the  lower  plates,  or  leaves,  of  lead 
are  corroded  and  fall  upon  the  floor,  and  in  six  or  seven 
weeks  there  is  very  little  lead  left  unconverted.  When 
the  operation  is  completed  the  fires  are  drawn,  the  cham- 
bers cooled,  and  the  lead  is  removed  from  the  floor  and 
taken  to  the  mill  for  separating  the  corroded  from  the  un- 
converted metallic  lead.  It  is  then  washed,  ground,  and 
dried,  in  the  same  manner  as  white  lead  made  by  the 
Dutch  process.  When  the  operation  has  been  successful 
it  is  found  that  from  80  to  90  per  cent  of  the  metallic 
lead  has  been  converted  into  white  lead.1 

This  method,  or  modifications  of  it,  is  generally  used 
in  Germany  to-day,  having  been  substituted  for  the  older 

1  J.  G.  Geutele,  Lehrbuch  der  Farbenfabrikation,  p.  138  et  seq. 


310  WHITE  LEAD 

Dutch  process.  In  the  United  States  attempts  to  establish 
a  modification  of  the  Dutch  method  known  under  the 
name  of  "  the  chamber  process/'  which  is  practically  the 
same  as  the  German  method,  have  resulted  disastrously. 
The  products  of  this  method  have  not  been  as  uniform  as 
those  made  by  the  Dutch  process,  and  a  prejudice  has 
persisted  against  them.  It  has  been  demonstrated  also 
that  there  is  no  economy  in  their  use  over  the  old  method. 
This  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  plentiful  supply  and  the 
comparative  inexpensiveness  of  spent  tan-bark  and  stable- 
litter  in  the  United  States,  —  conditions  which  perhaps  do 
not  exist  in  Germany,  where  these  substances  may  be  of 
much  greater  value.  The  failures  in  the  United  States 
may  possibly  be  largely  due  to  a  lack  of  experience  in 
the  experimenters  in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead ;  and 
besides,  those  who  have  made  the  attempt  have  labored 
under  the  heavy  disadvantage  of  being  obliged  to  establish 
a  demand  for  a  new  and  untried  brand. 

There  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  white  lead  of 
as  excellent  quality  should  not  be  made  by  these  processes 
as  by  the  Dutch  method,  but  the  experience  of  practical 
men  who  have  used  the  products  of  these  modified  methods 
has  been  unfavorable,  and  it  is  certain  that  a  renewed 
attempt  to  introduce  them  here  would  be  attended  with 
much  discouragement.  The  German  manufacturers,  how- 
ever, have  succeeded  in  thoroughly  establishing  their  new 
methods,  and  manufacture  large  quantities  of  white  lead 
by  these  new  processes  which  they  sell  in  the  principal 
markets  of  Europe.  It  is  possible  that  long  experience 
and  great  care  have  enabled  them  to  overcome  difficulties 
which  have  been  encountered  by  those  who  have  attempted 
to  introduce  new  methods  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  to  produce  white  lead  equal  in  quality  to  that  pre- 
pared by  the  ancient  process ;  but  their  productions  are  not 
in  great  favor  in  some  of  the  European  markets,  and 


IN   GERMANY  AND  AUSTRO-HUNGARY.  311 

are  frequently  sold  at  a  less  price  than  old-process  white 
lead. 

Kremserweiss  is  made  at  Klagenfurth  by  simply  dry- 
ing the  white  lead  which  falls  from  the  suspended  plates 
upon  the  floor,  and  which  is  saturated  with  acetic  acid, 
in  suitable  moulds.  In  the  Rhine  provinces  this  article 
is  prepared  as  follows  :  the  white  lead  made  by  the  steam- 
chamber  process  is  treated  with  vinegar  and  water,  and 
the  slime  which  rises  to  the  top  is  removed.  More  vinegar 
is  added  and  the  mass  is  agitated.  This  process  is  re- 
peated several  times.  Finally  it  is  treated  with  a  hot 
solution  of  lead  acetate,  settled,  and  the  pulp  is  introduced 
into  moulds  where  it  is  dried.  This  method  is  said  to 
produce  a  beautiful  white  kremserweiss,  which  breaks 
with  a  fine  glassy  fracture.1  The  hard  and  brittle  char- 
acter of  dry  white  lead  prepared  in  this  manner  was  in 
former  times  considered  as  a  proof  of  its  genuineness. 

In  some  German  factories  white  lead,  after  it  is  ground 
and  washed,  is  mixed  with  a  cementing  material,  such  as 
isinglass,  gum-water,  or  similar  substances.  It  is  then  made 
into  tablets,  when  it  is  termed  "  kremserweiss  ;  "  or  it  is 
formed  into  little  pyramidal  shapes,  which  are  wrapped  in 
blue  paper  and  called  Venetian  white  lead.  In  some  Ger- 
man and  Austrian  factories  all  perfectly  pure  white  lead 
is  termed  "  kremserweiss,"  and  that  adulterated  with  ba- 
rytes,  or  other  substances,  is  called  "  Venetian  "  white  lead ; 
a  still  greater  degree  of  debasement  is  indicated  by  the 
terms  "Hamburg,"  or  "Dutch"  white  lead. 

In  1835,  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  had  been  con- 
siderably extended  in  Germany  and  Austria.  Important 
factories  existed  at  Vienna,  Klagenfurth,  Villach,  Schwein- 
furt,  Osterode,  Eisenach,  Dresden,  Heilbron,  Breslau,  and 
Berlin,  where  a  factory  was  in  operation,  according  to  Von 
Justi,  in  1758.  White-lead  factories  were  established  at 

1  Gentele,  Lebrbuch  der  Farbenfabrikation,  p.  151. 


312  WHITE   LEAD. 

Dresden  about  a  hundred  years  ago.  The  method  origi- 
nally employed  was  the  Dutch  process,  but  in  comparatively 
recent  times  this  method  was  abandoned  and  the  chamber 
process  was  substituted.  The  Rhine  district  is  now  one 
of  the  most  important  seats  of  the  industry  in  Germany. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  production  in  this  district  amounts 
to  about  seventeen  thousand  tons  annually.  Of  this  more 
than  ten  thousand  tons  is  exported  to  Great  Britain, 
Holland,  Belgium,  France,  Sweden  and  Norway,  Denmark 
and  Austria,  but  principally  to  England. 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  arrive  at  any  trustworthy  esti- 
mate of  the  production  in  Germany  through  the  consular 
offices  of  the  United  States.  Consul  General  Raine  says 
that  German  manufacturers  were  cautioned,  a  short  time 
since,  by  a  semi-official  article  in  the  German  press  against 
giving  such  information,  especially  to  foreign  consuls.1  The 
importance  of  this  industry,  in  sympathy  with  the  recent 
uprisal  of  commercial  Germany,  has  very  greatly  increased, 
until  at  the  present  time  German  white  lead,  owing  to 
the  proximity  of  the  factories  to  abundant  supplies  of  raw 
material,  to  cheap  labor,  and  to  the  enterprise  of  German 
manufacturers,  is  found  in  all  the  principal  markets  of 
Europe,  and  is  closely  competing  with  and  pushing  English 
productions  not  only  in  foreign  markets  but  in  London 
itself. 

Replies  to  inquiries  made  in  Germany  through  London 
merchants  having  intimate  business  relations  with  German 
manufacturers  indicate  that  the  production  of  white  lead 
in  Germany  in  1886  reached  forty  to  fifty  thousand  tons. 
About  twenty-five  thousand  tons  were  required  for  domestic 
consumption,  and  the  remainder  found  a  market  in  other 
European  countries. 

1  See  U.  S.  Consular  Reports,  Nos.  73  and  74,  Washington,  1 887 :  Reports 
of  Consul  Warner,  p.  59;  Report  of  Consul  General  Raine,  p.  500;  Report  of 
Consul  Mason,  p.  503. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

WHITE   LEAD   IN   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

THERE  was  but  little  need  for  the  establishment  of 
white-lead  factories  in  the  United  States  until  after 
the  Revolution.  The  simple  habits  of  the  first  settlers, 
their  poverty,  and  their  struggles  for  subsistence  prohibited 
the  use  of  paints  for  decorative  purposes,  while  the  abun- 
dance of  timber  rendered  it  unnecessary  to  be  at  any  great 
expense  to  preserve  it  from  the  destructive  action  of  the 
elements.  Indeed,  the  spirit  which  pervaded  society,  in 
some  of  the  colonies,  regarded  the  use  of  articles  of  orna- 
ment or  luxury  as  tending  to  loose  or  to  aristocratic  ways 
of  living,  which  would  endanger  the  morals  of  the  commu- 
nity. The  use  of  paint,  therefore,  was  discouraged  by  the 
early  settlers.  Bishop  relates  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Allen,  of  Charlestown,  near  Boston,  who  was  "  called  to 
account  "  in  1639  for  having  paint  about  his  dwelling. 
The  reverend  gentleman  secured  immunity  from  correc- 
tion by  assuring  the  authorities  of  his  condemnation  of  the 
practice  of  using  paint,  and  by  proving  that  the  offensive 
substance  had  been  applied  by  a  former  proprietor,  and 
was  there  when  he  took  possession  of  the  premises. 

The  dwellings  of  the  early  settlers  were  generally  of 
wood,  unpainted  on  the  outside  and  inside.  The  interior 
walls  were  occasionally  whitewashed,  but  beyond  this  no 
decoration  was  to  be  observed.  The  first  church  in  Boston 
(destroyed  by  fire  in  1711)  was  never  painted,  it  is  said, 
inside  or  outside.  In  1705,  according  to  Bishop,  the  coat 


314  WHITE  LEAD 

of  arms  of  Queen  Anne,  in  the  Court-House  at  Salem, 
Mass.,  was  ordered  to  receive  "  a  coloured  covering," 
which  is  said  to  be  the  first  reference  to  art  in  that  quar- 
ter. A  list  of  mechanics  made  in  1670,  in  Massachusetts, 
fails  to  show  the  name  of  a  single  painter.  Painters' 
colors,  however,  were  for  sale  in  Boston  in  1714.1 

One  of  the  enterprising  merchants  of  Philadelphia  dur- 
ing the  period  of  the  Revolution  was  Mr.  Samuel  Wetherill. 
He  appears  to  have  directed  his  attention  at  first  to  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  and  woollen  cloths,  of  which  the 
colonies,  and  especially  the  Continental  army,  soon  after 
the  outbreak  of  hostilities,  were  in  sore  need.  Previous  to 
the  war,  most  manufactures,  of  prime  necessity  as  well  as 
of  luxury,  were  obtained  from  England ;  but  the  war  closed 
this  source  of  supply,  and  importation  from  other  Euro- 
pean nations  was  attended  with  such  risks  that  but  little 
was  brought  in.  The  consequence  of  this  state  of  affairs 
was  the  rapid  increase  in  the  value  of  clothing,  and  the 
scarcity  became  a  source  of  great  embarrassment  to  Con- 
gress who  required  large  supplies  for  the  army.  In  March, 
1776,  that  body  recommended  the  assemblies  of  the  colo- 
nies to  encourage  the  culture  of  flax  and  cotton  and  the 
growth  of  wool,  and  to  establish  in  each  colony  a  society 
for  the  Improvement  of  Agriculture,  Arts,  Manufactures, 
and  Commerce. 

In  compliance  with  the  recommendation  of  Congress, 
societies  were  formed  in  the  colonies  in  the  early  days  of 
the  war  for  the  encouragement  of  manufactures.  To  one 
of  these  societies  Mr.  Wetherill  belonged,  and  when  the 
"  Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Manu- 
factures and  the  Useful  Arts  "  was  established,  in  1787,  he 
became  one  of  its  most  prominent  members.  This  society 
offered  premiums  for  the  invention  of  labor-saving  ma- 
chines, for  the  raising  of  hemp,  cotton,  and  flax,  and  for 

1  See  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  vol.  i.  p.  208  et  seq. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  315 

excellence  in  the  quality  of  various  articles  of  manufacture 
produced  in  the  State.  Whether  or  not  the  society  offered 
a  premium,  or  assisted  in  any  way  in  the  establishment  of 
the  first  white-lead  factory  in  the  State,  does  not  appear,1 
but  that  Wetherill  was  one  of  the  active  promoters  of 
manufacturing  enterprises. is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the 
autumn  of  1788  he  was  chairman  of  the  manufacturing 
committee  of  the  society.  In  May,  1777,  Wetherill  had  a 
factory  in  Philadelphia  for  the  manufacture  of  woollen  and 
cotton  cloths,  and  later  the  firm  of  Samuel  Wetherill  &  Son 
established  the  manufacture  of  chemical  products,  and  im- 
ported and  sold  dye-stuffs,  chemicals,  white  and  red  lead, 
etc.  They  began  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  Phila- 
delphia in  the  first  decade  of  this  century.  Bishop  places 
the  date  at  1789,  but  Mr.  W.  H.  H.  Wetherill,  a  descend- 
ant in  the  fourth  generation,  fixes  the  actual  beginning  of 
corroding  at  1804.  The  new  enterprise  excited  the  jealousy 
and  ire  of  the  English  manufacturers  who  had  supplied  the 
markets  of  the  country,  and  there  is  a  tradition  that  the 
destruction  of  the  factory  by  fire,  soon  after  operations 
were  begun,  was  the  work  of  a  young  Englishman,  who 
applied  for  work  a  few  days  before  the  disaster,  and  who 
left  for  home  in  a  vessel  which  sailed  for  London  early  in 
the  morning  of  the  day  following  the  fire.  The  factory  was 
not  rebuilt  until  1808  or  1809.  During  its  erection  an 
agent  of  the  English  white-lead  factories  frequently  warned 
Wetherill  of  the  danger  of  the  undertaking,  and  confiden- 
tially informed  him  of  his  orders  to  crush  the  new  enter- 
prise. Nothing  daunted,  Wetherill  completed  the  factory, 
and  operations  were  begun  ;  but,  true  to  his  instructions, 
the  agent  of  the  English  companies  immediately  put  the 
price  of  his  commodities  to  such  a  point  that  absolute  ruin 
to  Wetherill  seemed  inevitable.  The  war  of  1812,  how- 
ever, forced  the  English  manufacturers  to  retire,  and 

1  See  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  407  et  seq. 


316  WHITE  LEAD 

insured  the  success  of  the  new  enterprise.  The  products 
of  this  factory  were  soon  in  much  favor,  being  considered 
quite  equal  to  the  English. 

Wetherill  employed  the  Dutch  method  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  white  lead,  using  stable-litter  as  the  source  of 
heat.  He  took  out  patents  in  1811  "  for  setting  the  beds 
or  stacks  "  and  for  an  improved  method  of  screening  and 
separating  the  corroded  lead.  He  cast  the  lead  in  sheets 
and  rolled  it  in  spirals,  before  placing  it  in  the  pots,  as  the 
custom  was  in  Europe  at  that  time.  The  destruction  by 
fire  of  the  early  records  of  the  Patent  Office  renders  it 
impossible  to  ascertain  the  details  of  Wetherill's  im- 
provements. He  seems  to  have  been  thoroughly  able 
and  enterprising,  and  made  important  improvements  in 
the  manufacture  of  red  lead. 

The  importance  of  manufacturing  interests  was  as 
thoroughly  understood  in  Pennsylvania  at  that  early  day 
as  at  the  present  time,  and  through  the  influence  of  some 
of  its  citizens  Congress  was  induced  to  inquire  into  the 
condition  of  manufactures  in  the  country  at  that  time. 
In  an  elaborate  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
Mr.  Coxe  says  :  "  Soon  after  the  acquisition  of  the  south- 
ern lead  mines  (Louisiana  had  been  purchased  some  years 
earlier),  establishments  to  make  pigments  of  that  material 
were  erected  in  one  season  sufficient,  with  the  shot  fac- 
tories, to  employ  that  portion  of  the  addition  which  was 
likely  to  reach  Atlantic  ports.  Red  and  white  lead,  and 
patent  yellow,  are  now  made  in  considerable  quantities." 
In  a  list  of  the  industrial  establishments  in  the  United 
States  accompanying  this  report,  which  is  for  the  year 
1810,  but  one  white-lead  factory  —  producing  in  that  year 
three  hundred  and  sixty-nine  tons  —  is  mentioned.1  This 
was  probably  Wetherill's  factory. 

1  Tench  Coxe,  A  Statement  of  the  Arts  and  Manufactures  of  the  United 
States,  prepared  by  instruction  of  Albert  Gallatin,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  317 

The  enterprise  of  Wetherill  was  closely  followed  up. 
White-lead  works  are  said  to  have  been  established  in 
Philadelphia  previous  to  the  war  of  1812  by  an  English- 
man named  Smith,  who  was  succeeded  in  1813  by 
Joseph  Richards.  Richards  continued  in  the  business 
until  1819-20,  when  his  establishment  was  acquired  by 
Messrs.  Mordecai  Lewis  and  Company,  merchants,  who  were 
dealers  in  and  importers  of  white  lead  as  early  as  1772. 
Richards  took  out  a  patent  for  improvements  in  the  manu- 
facture of  white  lead  in  1818,  and  he  was  probably  con- 
nected with  the  business  as  late  as  1836,  as  he  received 
a  patent  in  that  year  for  "  a  new  method  of  making  white 
lead."  Chemical  works  were  established  in  Philadelphia 
during,  and  perhaps  prior  to,  the  Revolution,  but  they  did 
not  assume  much  importance  until  the  War  of  1812,  when 
the  interruption  in  the  receipt  of  supplies  from  Europe  in- 
creased the  price,  and  enabled  American  manufacturers  to 
establish  themselves  upon  a  substantial  basis.  Mr.  John 
Harrison  had  begun  the  manufacture  of  sulphuric  acid  in 
Philadelphia,  at  what  is  now  known  as  the  Kensington 
Works,  prior  to  1806.  In  that  year  the  works  were  de- 
stroyed by  fire,  but  were  immediately  rebuilt.  Harrison 
was  an  enterprising  manufacturer,  and  is,  distinguished  as 
being  the  first  in  this  country  to  use  a  platinum  still  for 
the  concentration  of  sulphuric  acid.  The  manufacture  of 
white  lead  was  begun  at  the  Kensington  Works  shortly 
after  they  were  rebuilt,  but  it  is  impossible  to  assign  a 
date  for  this  event.  Mr.  Thomas  S.  Harrison,  a  descend- 
ant and  successor  in  business  to  Mr.  John  Harrison,  says, 
in  reply  to  an  inquiry  upon  this  subject  :  "  Tradition  says 
that  corroding  by  the  Dutch  process  was  begun  upon  the 
completion  of  the  new  works." 

Philadelphia  was  unquestionably  the  first  seat  of  the 

my,  given  by  him  in  obedience  to  a  resolution  of  Congress  of  March  19,  1812 
(Philadelphia,  181 2),  p.  42. 


318  WHITE   LEAD 

manufacture  of  white  lead  in  the  United  States,  and  one 
or  more  factories  were  established  there  prior  to  1810. 
The  production  of  white  and  red  lead  in  this  year  is  stated 
by  Bishop  to  have  been  500  tons.  The  imports,  how- 
ever, amounted  to  1,150  tons,1  and  American  enterprise 
probably  found  it  a  hard  struggle  to  contend  against  the 
English  manufacturers,  who  endeavored  to  strangle  the 
infant  industry.  The  manufacturers  appealed  to  Congress 
for  protection  and  support,  and  suggested  that  the  duty  of 
one  cent  per  pound  on  pig-lead  be  removed,  and  that  a 
duty  of  two  cents  per  pound  be  imposed  upon  white  and 
red  lead. 

The  method  used  in  these  early  factories  was  the  Dutch 
process,  and  the  industry  increased  in  importance  during 
the  progress  of  the  war.  Prices  advanced  to  such  an  ex- 
traordinary figure  that  public  attention  was  strongly  at- 
tracted to  this  branch  of  manufacture,  and  several  attempts 
were  made  to  improve  the  methods  employed  and  to  shor- 
ten the  time  required  to  produce  the  perfected  product.  In 
1814  Welch  and  Evans,  of  Philadelphia,  patented  a  quick 
process  of  making  white  lead,  by  which  granulated  lead 
was  placed  in  lead-lined  barrels,  which  were  made  to  re- 
volve. The  barrels  were  partly  filled  with  water,  and  the 
particles  of  lead  removed  by  attrition  were  oxidized  by 
oxygen  from  the  air,  and  this  oxide  was  carbonized  by 
the  introduction  of  carbon  dioxide  produced  from  burning 
charcoal.  Eichards,  who  sold  his  Philadelphia  factory  to 
Lewis,  joined  Evans  in  building  a  factory  near  Philadelphia 
to  make  white  lead  by  this  process.  The  venture  proved 
unprofitable,  and  after  a  short  season  of  disaster  it  was 
abandoned.  Hagner,  in  1817,  and  Clark,  in  1818,  both 
of  Philadelphia,  took  out  patents  for  improvements  in  the 
manufacture  of  white  lead,  probably  methods  by  which 
the  time  necessary  for  conversion  was  shortened.  Of 

1  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  vol.  ii.  p.  155. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES.  319 

Hagner  we  have  no  records,  unless  he  appears  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Gregg  and  Hagner,  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  white  lead  in  Pittsburgh,  in  1837.  Clark  was 
probably  the  promoter  of  the  works  established  at  Sauger- 
ties,  New  York,  in  1832,  of  which  mention  will  be  made 
hereafter. 

The  manufacture  of  white  lead  was  established  at  Pitts- 
burgh in  1810  by  Adam  Bielin  and  J.  J.  Stevenson.  In  the 
same  year  Trevor,  Pettigrew,  and  Provost  erected  a  second 
factory  for  the  manufacture  of  white  and  red  lead.  This 
firm  also  manufactured  acids.  They  retired  from  the  white- 
lead  business  after  a  short  experiment  probably,  as  in  1813 
the  factory  of  Bielin  was  the  only  one  in  active  operation 
in  Pittsburgh. 

There  are  no  records  extant  by  which  the  process  em- 
ployed in  these  Pittsburgh  factories  can  be  determined. 
Probably  the  Dutch  method  was  used,  as  up  to  this  date 
the  only  patent  recorded  except  WethernTs,  who  certainly 
used  the  Dutch  method,  was  taken  out  by  A.  J.  Hamilton, 
of  New  York,  in  1813,  for  the  manufacture  of  white  lead 
and  flake-white.  The  specifications  of  this  patent  were 
burned.  Hamilton's  name  does  not  appear  afterwards,  and 
his  improvements  were  probably  unimportant. 

In  1815  the  Cincinnati  Manufacturing  Company  had  a 
factory  for  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  operation  in 
Cincinnati.1  This  is  said  to  have  been  the  third  white- 
lead  factory  erected  west  of  the  mountains.  Its  products 
were  claimed  to  be  superior  to  the  best  English,  "  as  they 
were  entirely  free  from  whiting." 

Bishop  says  that  a  factory  for  the  manufacture  of  white 
lead  existed  in  New  York  in  1820.  Several  small  plants 
for  grinding  white  lead  and  colored  paints  were  established 
in  that  city  from  1800  to  1825,  but  the  white  lead  used 
was  of  European  production.  The  earliest  notice  of  the 

1  Bishop,  History  of  American  Manufactures,  vol.  ii.  p.  218. 


320 


WHITE  LEAD 


manufacture  of  white  lead  from  the  metal  is  of  the  opera- 
tions of  Dr.  Yanderberg,  of  Albany.  Dr.  Yanderberg  was 
a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  and  was  noted  for 
his  scientific  acquirements.  He  attempted  the  establish- 
ment of  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  New  York  in 
1820  to  1824  by  a  short  process.  His  means  proving  in- 
sufficient, he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Augustus  and  John 
Bell  Graham,  who  were  operating  a  distillery  in  Brooklyn. 
They  were  induced  to  join  Yanderberg  in  his  operations. 
A  short  experience  demonstrated  the  profitable  nature  of 
the  business,  but  also  showed  that  their  capital  was  in- 
adequate. They  laid  their  plans  before  Mr.  David  Leavitt, 
at  that  time  a  successful  merchant,  and  engaged  in  the 
wholesale  grocery  business  in  New  York.  Mr.  Leavitt  de- 
cided to  embark  in  the  business,  and  the  Brooklyn  White 
Lead  Works  was  incorporated,  with  Mr.  Leavitt  as  presi- 
dent and  the  G  rahams  as  secretary  and  treasurer.  They 
erected  works  on  the  site  of  the  distillery,  and  began  at 
once  the  manufacture  of  white  lead.  It  was  soon  found 
that  the  process  adopted  by  the  new  corporation  was  de- 
fective, the  product  being  irregular,  and  about  1830  it  was 
abandoned,  and  the  old  Dutch  method  was  substituted, 
stable-litter  being  used  as  the  source  of  heat  and  carbon 
dioxide.  In  1832  Mr.  Augustus  Graham  visited  Europe, 
and  succeeded  in  getting  employment,  as  a  workman,  in 
one  of  the  best-appointed  factories  in  England,  where  he 
learned  the  processes  and  methods  of  the  English  manu- 
facturers. On  his  return  to  New  York  these  were  adopted, 
including  the  substitution  of  tan-bark  for  stable-litter. 
The  products  of  this  company  at  once  took  a  high  position 
in  public  favor,  and  the  business  has  been  continuously  and 
successfully  conducted,  upon  the  same  premises,  and  under 
the  same  name,  to  the  present  time. 

The   Union  White   Lead   Company,  ,of   Brooklyn,  was 
established  about  1827  to  1830,  by  .the  Messjcs.  Cornell, 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  321 

who  at  first  began  grinding  white  lead  of  foreign  manu- 
facture ;  they  shortly  added  the  preparation  of  white  lead 
from  the  metal,  and  conducted  a  profitable  business  for 
many  years.  The  Cornells  had  long  been  connected 
with  Hinton  and  Moore,  of  New  York,  who  were  the 
largest  dealers  in  the  city;  they  ground  white  lead  of 
English  make,  and  were  noted  for  their  enterprise  and 
sagacity. 

The  manufacture  of  white  lead  was  begun  in  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  in  1824,  by  The  Salem  Lead  Manufactur- 
ing Company.  The  process  employed  is  said  to  have  been 
a  German  method,  probably  a  modification  of  the  Dutch 
process,  termed  in  the  United  States,  the  "  chamber  process." 
In  1826  Francis  Peabody  established  the  manufacture  in 
Salem,  Massachusetts,  and  conducted  an  extensive  and  suc- 
cessful business  for  many  years.  He  employed  the  Dutch 
process,  and  found  it  necessary  in  1830  to  erect  important 
additions  to  his  plant.  Besides  supplying  a  continually 
increasing  home  demand,  he  exported  white  lead  in  con- 
siderable quantities.  Peabody  continued  until  1843,  when 
he  relinquished  the  business  to  The  Forest  River  Lead 
Company  which  was  organized  to  succeed  him.  There 
appears  to  be  some  doubt  respecting  the  date  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  Cincinnati. 
Bishop  says  the  Cincinnati  Manufacturing  Company  had  a 
factory  in  operation  as  early  as  1815.  Another  authority 
states  that  Barney  McLennon  established  the  business  in 
1820,  at  the  corner  of  Central  Avenue  and  Front  Street. 
In  1828  Robert  McCandless  and  Richard  Conkling  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  Cincinnati, 
employing  the  Dutch  method.  They  cast  their  lead  in 
sheets  and  rolled  it  in  spirals,  as  was  the  custom  in  Eng- 
land and  Holland.  In  1830,  McCandless  retired  from  the 
business,  and  Conkling  became  the  sole  proprietor.  In 

1829  A.  McBurney,  of  New  Haven,  Ohio,  secured  a  patent 

21 


322  WHITE  LEAD 

for  an  improvement  in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead.  The 
specifications  of  this  patent  were  destroyed  by  the  fire  at 
the  Patent  Office,  and  there  is  no  record  of  McBurney's 
operations. 

The  consumption  of  white  lead  in  the  United  States 
prior  to  the  war  of  1812  was  limited  and  was  chiefly  sup- 
plied from  Europe ;  the  quantity  made  at  Philadelphia  was 
very  small.  White  lead  sold  at  from  ten  to  twenty  cents 
per  pound,  and  the  English,  and  probably  the  American 
white  lead,  was  largely  adulterated.  During  the  war  the 
product  of  the  American  lead  mines  was  insignificant,  and 
utterly  inadequate  to  supply  the  demand.  The  Galena 
district  was  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes. 
The  mines  in  Missouri  were  undeveloped  and  the  mines  in 
the  Eastern  States  yielded  but  a  limited  supply.  The  sus- 
pension of  the  importation  of  pig-lead  caused  an  extraor- 
dinary advance  in  the  price  of  this  article  and  of  all  its 
products  ;  white  lead  sold  for  as  much  as  thirty  cents  per 
pound.  The  enormous  profits  indicated  by  these  extreme 
prices  stimulated  the  erection  of  factories,  and  the  invention 
of  ingenious  men  to  devise  some  shorter  and  less  expensive 
way  of  manufacturing  than  by  the  old  Dutch  process  which 
had  hitherto  been  employed.  Metallic  lead,  which  reached 
such  an  enormous  value  during  the  war,  rapidly  declined 
at  its  close.  The  removal  of  the  Indians,  who  had  held 
possession  of  the  Galena  lead  fields,  and  the  decision  by 
Congress  to  sell  the  mineral  lands,  stimulated  mining  oper- 
ations, and  in  a  few  years  the  production  of  metallic  lead 
was  in  excess  of  the  demand.  The  price  of  this  substance 
fell,  until  in  1830  it  sold  for  less  than  four  cents  per 
pound.  The  revival  of  general  business  after  the  war  re- 
sulted in  the  establishment  of  several  white-lead  factories. 
The  decline  in  value  of  metallic  lead,  and  the  sharp  com- 
petition occasioned  by  the  increase  in  the  output  of  the 
older  factories,  added  to  the  product  of  the  new  establish- 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  323 

ments,  caused  the  value  of  white  lead  to  decline  to  twelve 
cents  per  pound  in  1826,  and  to  nine  cents  in  1830. 

In  1830,  the  manufacturers  of  the  Eastern  cities  of  the 
United  States  found  it  necessary,  owing  to  very  strong  compe- 
tition, and  probably  overproduction,  to  enter  into  an  agree- 
ment for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  uniform  and  profitable 
prices.  By  the  terms  of  this  agreement  each  factory  (there 
were  eight  at  that  time  east  of  the  Alleghanies)  had  the 
privilege  of  appointing  an  agent  in  eleven  principal  mar- 
kets in  the  Eastern  States,  from  Portland  to  New  Orleans. 
These  agents  were  to  receive  a  commission  of  five  per  cent. 
The  prices  and  terms  fixed  by  this  agreement  were  as 
follows : 1  — 

Dry  white  lead 8  cents  per  pound. 

Pure  lead,  ground  in  oil 9       "  " 

Potters'  red  lead 6       "          " 

Glassmakers'  red  lead     .     .     - 7£    "          " 

The  terms  were,  — 

For  quantities  amounting  to  — 

Less  than  $300 6  months 

From  $300  to  $500 6      "       and  1%  discount. 

"    $500  to  $800    .......  6       "          "2%         " 

"    C300  and  upwards     ....  6       "  "3%         " 

It  was  stipulated  that  these  amounts  were  to  be  pur- 
chased at  one  time  to  entitle  the  buyer  to  the  terms. 

The  parties  to  this  agreement  bound  themselves  in  the 
sum  of  two  thousand  dollars,  to  be  considered  and  treated 
as  stipulated  damages,  for  the  full  and  faithful  perform- 
ance of  the  agreement,  and  ninety  days'  notice  was  required 
to  be  given  of  an  intention  to  withdraw. 

The  signers  to  this  agreement  were  Lewis  and  Company, 
Wetherill  and  Sons,  Harrison  and  Brothers,  of  Philadelphia  ; 
Hinton  and  Moore,  of  New  York,  who  were  possibly  sell- 
ing agents  for  the  Union  Company,  the  Brooklyn  White 

1  The  price  of  pig  lead  at  this  time  was  about  four  cents  per  pound. 


324  WHITE  LEAD 

Lead  Company,  of  Brooklyn,  New  York ;  and  Francis  Pea- 
body,  and  The  Salem  Lead  Manufacturing  Company,  of 
Salem,  Massachusetts.1 

The  Eastern  corroders  entirely  ignored  their  brother 
manufacturers  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  in  forming  their 
syndicate ;  indeed  there  was  scarcely  any  competition  be- 
tween the  two  sections.  The  mountains  were  a  serious 
obstacle  to  the  transportation  of  such  a  commodity  as 
white  lead.  Pig-lead  was  floated  down  the  Mississippi  in 
flat-boats  to  New  Orleans,  and  thence  carried  by  ships  to 
New  York  and  Philadelphia ;  but  this  method  of  trans- 
portation is  not  adapted  for  moving  white  lead.  At  this 
time  there  were  two  or  more  factories  at  Pittsburgh,  and 
one,  perhaps  two,  at  Cincinnati. 

There  are  no  trustworthy  data  by  which  the  product  of 
the  ten  or  twelve  establishments  in  existence  in  1830  can 
be  estimated.  Probably  three  thousand  tons  would  fully 
cover  the  annual  production. 

The  decade  following  1830  exhibited  considerable  ac- 
tivity in  the  establishment  of  new  factories.  The  rapid 
growth  of  population  in  the  West,  and  the  almost  univer- 
sal employment  of  wood  in  building,  rendering  a  coating  of 
paint  necessary  for  preservative  as  well  as  for  decorative 
purposes,  resulted  in  a  great  development  of  the  industry 
in  that  quarter ;  while  in  the  East,  the  financial  success  of 
the  early  establishments  encouraged  the  erection  of  new 
factories.  In  Boston  the  establishment  of  the  Boston 
Lead  Company,  in  1831,  inaugurated  the  manufacture  of 
white  lead  in  that  city.  In  1835,  The  Salem  Lead  Manu- 
facturing Company,  which  had  been  producing  white  lead 
by  a  chamber  process  for  some  years,  relinquished  business. 

In  1832,  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  was  begun  at 

1  Mr.  John  T.  Lewis,  of  Philadelphia,  who  courteously  furnishes  this  inter- 
esting item,  says  he  is  unable  to  say  how  long  this  agreement  lasted,  but  in 
1834  a  new  one  was  executed. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES.  325 

Saugerties,  New  York,  where  an  abundant  supply  of  pure 
water,  furnishing  ample  power,  seemed  to  invite  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  industry.  The  Great  Falls  Manufacturing 
Company  was  established  at  about  this  time,  with  Colonel 
Edward  Clark  as  president,  —  the  same  Clark,  possibly, 
who,  in  1818,  as  a  citizen  of  Philadelphia,  took  out  a  patent 
for  an  improved  process  for  making  white  lead.  This 
process  (the  specifications  are  lost)  was  probably  a  quick 
process  ;  but  Clark,  in  1839,  took  out  two  patents  for  im- 
proved methods  of  separating  corroded  from  uncorroded 
lead:  one,  by  passing  it  upon  an  endless  apron  of  wire  cloth, 
under  a  whipper,  "the  quick  and  violent  operation  of 
which  separates  the  carbonate  from  the  metallic  lead;"  the 
other  is  described  as  "  passing  the  partially  corroded  lead 
between  rollers  adapted  to  bend,  indent,  corrugate,  and 
stretch  the  lead,  thus  separating  the  corroded  from  the 
metallic  lead." 

Jewett,  Sons,  and  Company  became  interested  in  the 
manufacture  of  white  lead  at  Saugerties  about  1838.  The 
process  employed  was  a  modification  of  the  Dutch  method, 
the  exact  nature  of  which  the  successors  of  this  house  are 
unable  to  state.  Charles  Ripley,  of  Saugerties,  was  granted, 
in  July,  1837,  a  patent  for  a  chamber  process,  described  as 
follows :  "  Lead  in  sheets  is  bent  into  coils,  and  placed 
on  shelves  or  slats,  or  suspended  in  the  corroding-chamber. 
Vinegar  is  placed  in  steam-heated  troughs  in  the  corroding- 
chamber,  and  evaporated  by  the  action  of  heat.  Carbonic 
acid  gas  and  oxygen  (air)  are  supplied  to  the  chamber,  etc." 
The  experiment  of  the  Jewetts  at  Saugerties  was  aban- 
doned after  a  short  trial. 

In  the  West,  the  single  establishment  recorded  as  exist- 
ing in  Pittsburgh  in  1817  had  no  less  than  seven  companions 
twenty  years  later.  The  operations  of  these  factories  were 
limited ;  as  but  nine  hundred  tons,  it  is  estimated,  covered 
their  aggregate  annual  production.  The  business  was  prob- 


326  WHITE  LEAD 

ably  unprofitable  ;  the  names  of  the  proprietors  entirely  dis- 
appeared from  the  list  of  makers  of  white  lead  during  the 
next  twenty  years. 

There  are  no  records  existing  by  which  the  processes 
used  by  these  manufacturers  can  be  ascertained.  The 
name  of  G.  F.  Hagner  occurs  in  the  records  of  the  Patent 
Office  as  the  recipient  of  a  patent,  in  1817,  for  a  new 
process  of  making  white  lead  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  he  was 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  Gregg  and  Hagner,  who  were  one 
of  the  eight  Pittsburgh  manufacturers.  Hagner' s  method 
was  a  short  process. 

In  the  far  West  the  consumption  of  white  lead  was  ex- 
tremely insignificant  in  early  days.  The  country  was 
sparsely  settled,  and  means  of  communication,  except  by 
the  rivers,  were  irregular  and  expensive.  The  American 
pioneer  affects  but  little  the  civilizing  influences  of  paint ; 
if  the  chinks  between  the  logs  of  his  cabin  are  well  filled 
with  mud  he  is  content.  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  was  "  on  the 
border  "in  1837,  when  an  establishment  was  erected  for 
the  preparation  of  white  lead  by  Reed  and  Hoffman. 
These  gentlemen  after  a  short  experience  disposed  of  their 
plant  to  Charless  and  Blow,  and  soon  after,  Mr.  Henry  T. 
Blow  retired  from  the  firm,  and  accepting  the  factory  as 
his  share,  devoted  his  untiring  energies  to  founding  the 
great  corporation  which,  under  the  name  of  The  Collier 
White  Lead  and  Oil  Company,  exerts  a  powerful  influence 
in  the  business  to-day.  The  location  of  this  establishment, 
contiguous  to  the  lead  mines  of  Missouri  and  Galena,  gave 
it  at  once  great  advantages  over  its  rivals  in  the  cost  of 
its  productions;  but  the  demand  for  paint  increased  but 
slowly,  and  the  annual  production,  previous  to  1850,  did 
not  exceed  five  hundred  tons. 

In  Cincinnati,  the  establishment  of  the  Conklings  had  a 
companion  in  1836,  when  Mr.  Townsend  Hills  erected  a 
plant. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES.  327 

* 

Several  patents  were  granted  in  this  decade  for  improve- 
ments in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead.  These  improve- 
ments were  generally  in  the  direction  of  shortening  the 
process,  but  none  presented  any  novel  features  and  none 
have  survived. 

The  period  of  depression  in  the  mining  interests,  noticed 
as  occurring  about  the  year  1830,  continued  for  a  year  or 
two,  and  was  succeeded  by  more  favorable  conditions. 
The  price  of  metallic  lead  advanced  until  1837,  when  the 
average  value  was  about  six  cents  per  pound.  White  lead 
also  increased  in  price,  and  sold  at  twelve  cents  per  pound. 
From  this  time,  however,  values  declined  until  1840,  when 
the  metal  sold  at  five  cents  per  pound,  and  white  lead  at 
ten  cents.  The  production  of  white  lead  in  the  United 
States  in  1840  was  probably  about  five  thousand  tons. 

Between  the  years  1840  and  1850  the  white  lead  indus- 
try in  the  United  States  developed  rapidly.  During  this 
period,  several  establishments  were  founded  which  became 
in  time  classed  among  the  largest  and  most  important  in 
the  world.  The  Atlantic  White  Lead  Company  of  New 
York  was  founded  by  Mr.  Robert  Colgate.  John  Jewett  and 
Sons  erected  extensive  works  on  Staten  Island,  New  York. 
Battelle  and  Renwick  acquired  the  works  of  the  Great 
Falls  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Saugerties,  and  estab- 
lished the  Ulster  White  Lead  Company.  The  Suffolk 
Lead  Works  and  The  Norfolk  Lead  Company  were  estab- 
lished at  Boston.  The  Forest  River  Lead  Company,  at 
Salem,  succeeded  to  the  business  of  Peabody.  The  indus- 
try was  established  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  by  Thompson 
and  Company.  At  Pittsburgh,  B.  A.  Fahnestock  and  Com- 
pany erected  works  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  large 
business  in  the  Northwest.  Conkling,  at  Cincinnati,  erected 
another  plant,  and  called  it  The  Eagle  White  Lead  Works. 
In  St.  Louis,  Mr.  William  Glasgow,  Jr.,  erected  works  for 
the  manufacture  of  white  lead  by  the  Dutch  process ;  his 


328  WHITE  LEAD 

superintendent  was  Isaac  G-regg  of  Pittsburgh,  possibly 
the  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  Gregg  and  Hagner  who 
were  engaged  in  the  business  there  in  1837.  Mr.  Glasgow 
experimented  with  sawdust  as  the  source  of  heat  and 
carbon  dioxide,  hoping  to  improve  the  color  of  the  product. 
In  this  he  was  successful,  but  says  that,  "  from  some  un- 
known cause  the  white  lead  had  a  tendency  to  crystallize, 
and  had  therefore  not  sufficient  body."  This  establishment 
was  operated  some  five  years,  when  it  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  and  it  has  not  been  rebuilt.  A  small  establishment 
was  also  erected  during  the  decade  in  St.  Louis,  by  Bacon 
and  Hyde. 

These  additions  to  the  facilities  for  the  manufacture  of 
white  lead,  together  with  the  extension  and  more  thorough 
establishment  of  the  business  of  the  Collier  Company,  of 
St.  Louis,  the  enlargement  of  the  plant  of  the  Brooklyn 
Company,  the  purchase  of  the  works  of  the  Union  Com- 
pany of  New  York  by  Mr.  James  How  and  his  associates, 
who  changed  the  name  to  The  Union  White  Lead  Manu- 
facturing Company,  and  the  increase  in  the  business  of  the 
Lewises,  of  Philadelphia,  mark  an  important  epoch  in  the 
history  of  the  industry  in  America. 

The  lead  fields  of  the  Missouri  and  the  Galena  districts 
were  at  the  zenith  of  their  prosperity  during  this  period,  and 
produced  more  than  sufficient  to  supply  the  wants  of  the 
country,  but  the  method  of  transportation  was  crude,  slow, 
and  expensive.  Mr.  A.  P.  Thompson,  of  Buffalo,  a  son  of 
the  gentleman  who  established  tho  manufacture  of  white 
lead  in  that  city,  furnishes  an  interesting  account  of  some 
of  the  difficulties  experienced  in  early  days  in  procuring 
supplies  of  raw  materials.  The  metallic  lead  was  obtained 
by  this  house  from  the  mines  of  the  Galena  district.  The 
natural  outlet  for  the  metal  was  down  the  Mississippi  to 
New  Orleans,  thence  by  sail  to  New  York.  The  Buffalo 
manufacturers  would  then  have  to  bring  it  up  the  Hudson, 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  329 

and  then  by  canal  to  Buffalo.  They  found  it  cheaper  and 
more  expeditious  to  bring  their  supplies  across  the  prairies, 
from  the  mines  to  a  port  on  Lake  Michigan,  and  thence  by 
sail  to  Buffalo.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  smelters  to  offer 
the  product  of  their  furnaces  daily,  at  public  auction;  this 
made  it  necessary  for  the  Buffalo  corroders  to  maintain  an 
agent  at  the  mines,  to  secure  their  supplies.  When  a  pur- 
chase was  made  each  pig  of  lead  was  stamped  with  a  steel 
die,  bearing  a  private  device ;  when  a  sufficient  quantity 
had  been  collected,  a  caravan  of  ox-teams  was  secured,  and 
the  train  started  on  its  lonely  journey  across  the  unin- 
habited prairies  to  Milwaukee,  on  Lake  Michigan,  where  it 
was  loaded  upon  sailing-vessels,  and  finally  was  landed  at 
Buffalo.  This  method  of  transportation  was  naturally 
limited  to  the  spring  and  summer  months,  when  the  cattle 
could  gather  their  food  on  their  journey ;  and  the  interrup- 
tion in  the  receipt  of  supplies  made  it  necessary  to  sus- 
pend operations  at  the  Buffalo  factory  during  the  winter 
months. 

The  inventors  seem  to  have  been  resting  during  this 
period.  Smith  Gardner,  of  New  York,  took  out  a  patent 
in  1840,  for  a  process  by  which  granulated  or  small  pieces 
of  lead  were  introduced  into  vessels  lined  with  sheet  lead, 
and  partially  filled  with  water,  and  so  arranged  that  they 
could  be  revolved  or  manipulated  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
subject  the  lead  to  continual  attrition.  The  vessels  were 
kept  closed,  and  during  the  process  carbon  dioxide  and  air 
were  introduced.  This  principle  had  been  patented  four 
years  earlier  in  the  United  States,  and  two  years  earlier  in 
England. 

The  same  difficulty  exists  in  estimating  the  volume  of 
business  in  the  United  States  during  this  period  as  has 
been  noticed  regarding  the  statistics  of  previous  decades. 
It  is  probable  that  the  annual  production  in  1850  was 
about  nine  thousand  tons. 


330  WHITE  LEAD 

.There  was  little  development  in  the  industry,  so  far  as 
the  erection  of  new  plants  is  concerned,  in  the  period  in- 
cluded between  the  years  1850  and  1860.  The  universal 
custom  of  adulterating  white  lead  with  other  white  sub- 
stances, and  the  development  of  the  manufacture  of  zinc 
oxide,  which  was  largely  used  as  a  substitute,  left  but  little 
room,  notwithstanding  the  continued  increase  of  the  coun- 
try in  wealth  and  population,  for  any  phenomenal  increase 
in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead.  William  Wood  of  Cin- 
cinnati purchased  the  interest  of  Conkling  in  the  Eagle 
Works,  and  associated  with  him  T.  J.  McCoy.  The 
Niagara  White  Lead  Company  was  organized,  and  erected 
works  at  Buffalo.  The  manufacture  had  been  established 
in  a  small  way  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  1840,  but  was 
unsuccessful,  and  the  works  were  abandoned.  In  1856, 
Wilson  Waters  and  Company  re-established  the  business 
and  erected  a  new  plant.  In  1857  there  were  but  three 
factories  in  Pittsburgh. 

Several  patents  were  issued  during  this  period  for  im- 
provements in  the  old  process,  or  for  modifications  or  sub- 
stitutes ;  some  of  which,  in  the  next  decade,  secured  the 
support  of  capitalists  in  the  effort  to  establish  them.  The 
older  factories  enlarged  and  extended  their  business,  and 
the  output  in  the  United  States  in  1860,  it  is  estimated, 
reached  fifteen  thousand  tons. 

The  great  development  of  the  manufacture  of  white  lead 
in  the  United  States  occurred  in  the  period  immediately 
following  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  The  exigencies  of 
the  times  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  occasioned  a  strong 
advance  in  the  price  of  metallic  lead,  which  checked  for  a 
time  the  use  of  white  lead  as  a  pigment.  The  high  price 
of  white  lead  and  the  large  profits  secured  by  manufac- 
turers, owing  to  the  large  increase  in  value  of  their  stocks, 
stimulated  the  erection  of  new  plants  at  the  termination 
of  the  war.  Values  of  raw  material  now  steadily  declined, 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  331 

enabling  manufacturers  to  offer  their  productions  at  more 
reasonable  prices.  A  strong  public  sentiment  in  favor  of 
pure  goods  was  fostered,  resulting  in  driving  adulterated 
articles  from  the  market,  with  a  consequent  increase  in  the 
demand  for  white  lead. 

This  period  is  marked  by  the  foundation  of  several  great 
establishments.  In  St.  Louis,  the  business  established  by 
Blow  in  1838  had  grown  to  large  proportions.  In  1865 
the  St.  Louis  Lead  and  Oil  Company,  which  succeeded  the 
0' Fall  on  White  Lead  and  Oil  Company,  was  established, 
and  in  the  same  year  Platt  and  Thornburg  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Southern  White  Lead  Company.  In  Chicago, 
D.  B.  Shipman  began  to  manufacture  white  lead,  and  the 
Western  White  Lead  Company  was  organized ;  in  Cleveland, 
J.  H.  Morley  erected  an  extensive  plant.  Haslett,  Leonard, 
and  Company  succeeded  to  the  business  of  Waters  in  Louis- 
ville, and  Lewis  and  Schoonmaker  erected  a  new  factory, 
which  was  afterwards  sold  to  T.  J.  McCoy,  who  organized 
The  American  White  Lead  Company  to  operate  it.  Four 
factories  were  established  in  Pittsburgh,  all  of  which  may  be 
termed  offshoots  from  the  establishment  of  Fahnestock  and 
Company.  In  Cincinnati,  Mr.  Frederick  Eckstein  secured 
an  interest  in  the  business  established  by  Townsend  Hills 
in  1836,  and  Goshorn  Brothers  purchased  the  plant  estab- 
lished by  McCandless  in  1828.  This  business  was  after- 
wards incorporated  under  the  name  of  The  Anchor  White 
Lead  Company.  The  Eagle  White  Lead  Company,  also  of 
Cincinnati,  was  incorporated  during  this  period.  At  Buffalo, 
the  Cornell  Lead  Company  was  organized  and  succeeded 
to  the  business  of  The  Niagara  Company.  Hall,  Bradley, 
and  Company,  of  New  York,  established  the  business  in 
Brooklyn,  now  conducted  by  The  Bradley  White  Lead 
Company,  and  Mr.  Francis  Brown  organized  The  Salem 
Lead  Company  and  erected  extensive  works  at  Salem, 
Massachusetts.  The  Maryland  White  Lead  Company,  of 


332  WHITE  LEAD 

Baltimore,  was  founded  and  an  extensive  plant  erected  in 
1867. 

No  less  than  forty  patents  were  issued  in  this  decade  for 
improvements  in  the  manufacture  of  white  lead  ;  some  were 
for  improvements  in  the  manipulation  of  lead  corroded  in 
the  old  way,  but  generally  these  patents  were  for  modifica- 
tions of  the  Dutch  method,  or  for  the  production  of  white 
lead  by  precipitation,  or  by  other  processes.  None  of  the 
suggestions  included  in  the  specifications  of  these  patents 
present  any  interesting  features,  except  that  proposed  by 
Lewis  and  Bartlett,  and  none  have  proved  to  be  of  any 
economic  value.  Following  English  experimenters,  our 
American  investigators  have  applied  all  the  resources  of 
science  and  of  invention  to  the  subject,  without  securing 
any  valuable  result. 

Lewis  and  Bartlett  suggested  the  following :  Finely  di- 
vided metallic  lead  is  mixed  with  carbon,  and  is  subjected 
to  the  action  of  heat  in  a  compound  reducing  and  oxidiz- 
ing furnace.  The  vapors,  or  fumes,  are  condensed  and 
collected,  and  used  as  a  substitute  for  white  lead.  This 
appears  to  have  been  the  primary  experiment,  afterwards 
amplified  and  improved  by  these  gentlemen,  and  the  fumes 
arising  from  furnaces  used  for  smelting  lead  ores  were 
condensed,  collected,  treated  to  improve  the  color,  and  sold 
as  sublimed  lead,  for  use  as  a  substitute  for  white  lead. 

Many  attempts  were  made  during  this  period  to  establish 
the  manufacture  of  white  lead  in  the  United  States  by  a 
quick  process,  but  no  important  foothold  was  gained  by 
any  investigator.  The  production  of  white  lead  in  1870 
has  been  estimated  at  thirty-five  thousand  tons. 

The  period  included  between  the  years  1870  and  1880 
witnessed  a  continued  development  of  the  industry  in 
America ;  but  this  growth  is  principally  noticeable  in  the 
increase  in  the  facilities  of  the  old  and  well-established 
factories.  The  Missouri  Lead  and  Oil  Company  was 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  333 

founded  at  St.  Louis,  but  after  a  few  years  successful  busi- 
ness its  plant  and  business  were  acquired  by  its  neighbors 
in  St.  Louis.  McBirney  and  Johnston  erected  an  extensive 
establishment  in  Chicago  in  1879,  but  this  has  lately  been 
absorbed  by  the  Southern  White  Lead  Company. 

Thirty-five  patents  were  issued  for  improvements  in  the 
manufacture  of  white  lead  during  this  decade.  Of  this 
number,  but  fifteen  were  for  new  methods  or  for  improve- 
ments in  processes  suggested  as  substitutes  for  the  Dutch 
method.  Works  for  the  establishment  of  the  manufacture 
by  these  new  processes  were  established  at  Taunton,  Massa- 
chusetts ;  New  Britain,  Connecticut ;  Camden,  New  Jersey ; 
Alliance,  Ohio  ;  at  Philadelphia,  Pittsburgh,  New  York, 
Baltimore,  St.  Louis,  and  at  other  cities ;  all  were  unsuc- 
cessful, and  all  have  been  abandoned  and  have  entailed 
heavy  losses  upon  their  promoters.  Experimenters  have 
become  wary,  and  capital  can  no  longer  be  enticed  into 
these  fatal  ventures.  Lewis,  of  Philadelphia,  perfected  his 
plan  for  the  manufacture  of  sublimed  lead,  and  consid- 
erable amounts  were  produced  at  the  smelting-works  at 
Joplin,  Missouri,  and  sold  to  the  makers  of  colored  paints. 

The  American  investigator  into  the  subject  of  providing 
a  cheaper,  better,  quicker,  and  more  rational  method  of 
preparing  white  lead  than  that  practised  by  Theophilus 
and  his  predecessors,  appears  to  have  abandoned  the  field. 
During  seven  years  ending  with  1886  nine  patents  were 
granted  for  improved  methods  to  English  applicants,  while 
but  two  Americans  considered  their  suggestions  of  sufficient 
value  to  pay  the  fee.  Several  patents  were  granted  for 
improvement  in  the  management  of  the  details  of  the 
Dutch  process,  relating  chiefly  to  methods  of  washing  and 
drying. 

Since  1880,  four  establishments  have  been  erected  in  the 
United  States  for  the  manufacture  of  white  lead ;  of  these 
but  two  are  now  in  existence.  The  plants  of  F.  W.  Gerdes 


334  WHITE  LEAD. 

and  Brother  and  of  the  Washington  White  Lead  Company, 
both  of  Pittsburgh,  were  destroyed  by  fire  shortly  after 
their  erection,  and  have  not  been  rebuilt.  The  older  estab- 
lishments, those  well  located  and  whose  management  has 
been  conducted  with  vigor,  have  largely  increased  their 
facilities  and  their  business,  thus  reducing  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction and  rendering  the  establishment  of  new  enterprises 
a  hazardous  undertaking. 

The  annual  production  of  white  lead  in  the  United 
States  at  the  end  of  the  last  decade  may  be  placed  at  fifty 
thousand  tons.  In  1887  it  is  estimated  that  the  output 
will  reach  sixty-five  thousand,  perhaps  seventy  thousand 
tons. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

LEAD   OXIDES. 
DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE   MANUFACTURE. 

IF  metallic  lead  is  heated  to  a  temperature  above  its 
melting-point,  and  exposed  to  a  current  of  air,  it 
gradually  absorbs  oxygen,  and  becomes  a  coarse  lemon- 
yellow  powder.  If  the  temperature  is  carried  beyond  the 
melting-point  of  this  powder,  it  fuses  into  a  crystalline 
scaly  mass,  which,  upon  cooling,  breaks  up  into  thin  gold- 
en yellow  laminae.  These  substances  are  known  chemi- 
cally as  lead  oxides,  and  their  common  or  commercial 
name  is  "  litharge,"  a  word  derived  from  the  Greek, 
meaning,  literally,  "  silver-stone/'  —  a  name  given  to  it 
by  the  ancients  on  account  of  its  production  in  the  pro- 
cess of  refining  silver  by  the  use  of  lead,  and  in  the  re- 
covery of  silver  from  the  argentiferous  lead  produced 
by  the  first  smelting  of  argentiferous  galena.  When 
ground  in  water,  and  dried,  the  lemon-colored  powder,  be- 
comes buff  in  color,  and  is  the  powdered  litharge  of  com- 
merce; the  scaly  powder  is  known  commercially  as  "flake," 
or  "  glassmaker's  litharge."  The  oxidation  of  lead  for  the 
direct  production  of  these  substances  is  usually  conducted 
in  furnaces  of  the  reverberatory  pattern,  with  continued 
stirring  to  constantly  expose  fresh  surfaces  to  the  air. 
Sometimes  a  revolving  retort  is  used,  when  a  mechanical 
contrivance  secures  the  proper  agitation. 

.  Minium,  or  red  lead,  is  considered  to  be  a  combination 
of  protoxide  of  lead  with  a  peroxide.     It  is  made  by  mod- 


336  LEAD   OXIDES. 

erately  heating,  in  a  reverberatory  furnace  or  revolving 
retort,  litharge  which  has  been  ground  and  sifted,  submit- 
ting it  at  the  same  time  to  a  current  of  air,  from  which 
the  heated  litharge  abstracts  more  oxygen,  and  changes 
its  color  from  buff  to  a  brilliant  scarlet. 

Orange  mine,  or  orange  mineral,  is  produced  by  mod- 
erately heating  white  lead  in  a  reverberatory  furnace,  ex- 
posing it  at  the  same  time  to  a  current  of  air.  In  this 
case  the  carbon  dioxide  is  first  expelled,  leaving  protoxide 
of  lead,  which  gradually  absorbs  oxygen,  producing  red 
lead,  generally  of  a  lighter  color  than  that  made  from 
litharge.  Gmelin  accounts  for  the  difference  in  the  tints 
of  these  substances  by  the  different  degrees  of  fineness  in 
which  they  occur,  the  product  of  the  Qxidation  of  white 
lead  being  finer  than  that  resulting  from  the  oxidation 
of  metallic  lead.  Litharge  is  said  to  oxidize  imperfectly, 
and  consequently  red  lead  made  from  litharge  generally 
contains  a  notable  amount  of  the  protoxide,  while  white 
lead  oxidizes  more  completely  and  more  rapidly,  and  the 
product  is  softer.1 

The  transformation  of  metallic  lead  into  a  dry  powder 
by  simply  exposing  it  to  heat  in  the  presence  of  air,  and 
its  increase  in  weight  during  the  operation  —  by  the  ab- 
sorption of  oxygen  —  astonished  the  ancients.  The  alche- 
mists were  perplexed  by  these  phenomena,  and  persistently 
experimented  upon  lead  in  the  endeavor  to  transmute  base 
metals  into  gold.  At  a  later  time,  an  examination  of  the 
causes  of  these  changes  led  to  the  discovery  of  oxygen. 

Litharge  was  undoubtedly  the  first  product  of  lead 
known  to  the  ancients.  Its  formation  in  the  process  of 
cupellation  has  been  described,  and  its  discovery  must 
bear  as  early  a  date  as  the  invention  of  that  process.  The 
earliest  evidence  of  the  use  of  this  substance  in  the  arts  is 

1  See  Gmelin,  Handbook  of  Chemistry,  vol.  v.  p.  118;  also  Percy,  The 
Metallurgy  of  Lead,  p.  70. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.      337 
i 

found  in  the  decoration  and  glazing  of  pottery  recovered 
from  the  ruins  of  ancient  Egypt  and  Assyria.  The 
presence  of  lead  oxides  has  been  detected  in  analyses 
inade  of  the  paints  which  the  ancient  Egyptians  used  for 
glazing  and  for  decorating  pottery,1  but  no  trace  of  lead 
has  been  found  in  the  analyses  of  paints  removed  from 
the  walls  of  tombs  and  monuments  of  these  ancient  na- 
tions ;  and  if  we  accept  this  negative  evidence,  we  must 
infer  that  the  paints  used  by  them  for  mural  decoration 
consisted  only  of  colored  earths,  and  the  salts  of  copper, 
iron,  etc. 

A  perplexing  confusion  respecting  the  name  of  the  sub- 
stance we  now  know  as  minium,  or  red  lead,  prevailed  in 
ancient  times.  Pliny  quotes  Theophrastus  as  stating  that 
"  minium  was  discovered  in  the  year  of  Rome  439,  by 
Callias  the  Athenian,  who  was  in  hopes  to  extract  gold  by 
submitting  to  the  action  of  fire  the  red  sand  that  was 
found  in  silver  mines ; " 2  but  Theophrastus  refers  to  cin- 
nabar, the  ore  of  quicksilver,  from  which  we  get  our  ver- 
milion, and  says  "  there  are  two  kinds,  —  the  one  native, 
the  other  factitious ;  the  native,  which  is  found  in  Spain, 
is  hard  and  stony,  as  is  also  that  brought  from  Colchis, 
which  they  say  is  produced  there  in  rocks  and  on  preci- 
pices, from  which  they  get  it  down  with  darts  and  arrows. 
The  factitious  is  from  the  country  a  little  above  Ephesus  ; 
it  is  but  in  small  quantities,  and  is  had  only  from  one 
place." 3  Vitruvius  also  improperly  uses  the  term  "  minium." 
He  says  the  best  minium  came  from  Pontus,  near  the  river 
Hypanis,  in  the  country  between  the  borders  of  Magnesia 
and  Ephesus ;  but  he  probably  refers  to  an  iron  oxide,  or 
to  an  earth  colored  with  that  substance,  as  he  says  "  it  is 
procured  from  the  earth  in  such  a  state  as  to  want  neither 

1  Napier,  The  Ancient  Workers  and  Artificers  in  Metal,  p.  128. 
-  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiii.  chap,  xxxvii. 
8  Theophrastus,  History  of  Stones,  p.  227  et  seq. 
22 


338  LEAD  OXIDES. 

grinding  nor  sifting,  but  is  quite  as  fine  as  that  which  is 
ground  and  powdered  by  hand."  l  It  has  been  suggested 
that  the  substance  referred  to  by  Vitruvius  in  this  instance 
was  the  same  as  that  called  by  Homer  "  miltos."  But  true 
minium,  or  red  lead,  was  known  to  Vitruvius,  as  he  says 
in  another  place  that  "  white  lead  roasted  in  the  furnace 
becomes  changed  by  the  action  of  fire  into  minium  which 
is  much  better  than  that  procured  from  mines."  2 

According  to  Pliny,  minium  was  held  in  high  estima- 
tion by  the  Romans  in  very  ancient  times.  He  says  it  was 
used  in  former  times  for  sacred  purposes.  The  face  of  the 
statue  of  Jupiter  was  painted  with  it.  It  was  also  used 
on  festive  occasions,  and  when  victorious  generals  entered 
the  city  in  triumph,  their  bodies  were  painted  with  this 
substance.3  But  the  pigment  referred  to  in  this  passage 
was  undoubtedly  cinnabar,  which  Pliny  invariably  terms 
minium.  He  mentions,  in  the  same  chapter,  another 
variety  of  minium,  which  he  says  "  is  found  in  most  sil- 
ver mines,  as  well  as  lead  mines,  and  is  prepared  by  the 
calcination  of  certain  stones  that  are  found  mixed  with 
the  metallic  vein ;  not  the  mineral,  however,  to  the  fluid 
humors  of  which  we  give  the  name  of  quicksilver,  —  for 
if  those  are  subjected  to  the  action  of  fire  they  will  yield 
silver,  —  but  another  kind  of  stone  that  is  found  with 
them.  These  barren  stones  may  also  be  recognized  by 
their  leaden  color,  and  it  is  only  in  the  furnace  that  they 
turn  red.  After  being  duly  calcined  they  are  pulverized, 
and  thus  form  a  minium  of  second  rate  quality,  known 
to  but  very  few,  and  far  inferior  to  the  produce  of  the 
native  sand  we  have  mentioned,"  —  that  is,  cinnabar.  He 
further  says  :  "  If  this  minium  is  used  on  walls,  it  is  af- 
fected by  moisture;  and  this,  too,  notwithstanding  the 
substance  itself  is  a  kind  of  metallic  mildew." 4  Some 

1  Vitruvius,  p.  215.  2  Ibid.,  p.  212. 

3  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiii.  chap.  xl.  4  Ibid. 


DEVELOPMENT   OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.  339 

commentators  regard  these  "barren  stones  of  a  leaden 
color "  as  galena,  and  the  product  after  calcining  as 
true  minium  or  red  lead.  Davy,  however,  considered 
them  to  be  the  mineral  cerussite,  or  native  carbonate  of 
lead.1 

Pliny  describes  a  method  of  heating  or  melting  ceruse 
in  shallow  vessels,  with  constant  stirring  with  ladles  until 
it  became  red  and  assumed  the  appearance  of  "sandarach," 
*— meaning,  probably,  realgar,  a  salt  of  arsenic  which  has 
been  used  in  modern  times  as  a  pigment.  Pliny  says  this 
burnt  white  lead  —  usta  as  he  termed  it,  cerussa  usta  as  it 
is  generally  termed  by  ancient  writers  —  was  discovered  by 
an  accident.  At  a  fire  which  occurred  in  the  Piraeus,  the 
port  of  Athens,  there  happened  to  be  stored  in  one  of  the 
houses  which  were  consumed  a  quantity  of  white  lead, 
packed  in  earthen  jars.  After  the  fire,  the  ceruse  was 
found  to  be  changed  in  color  to  a  brilliant  scarlet.  One 
author  asserts  that  the  ceruse  was  in  the  apartments  of  a 
lady  by  whom  it  had  been  used  as  a  cosmetic.  The  pro- 
duct of  this  accident  was  seized  upon  by  Nicias,  a  cele- 
brated painter,  as  a  new  pigment,  and  he  is  said  by  Pliny 
to  have  been  the  first  to  use  it  for  this  purpose.  Pliny  also 
states  that  in  his  day  the  variety  which  came  from  Asia, 
and  was  known  as  "purpurea,"  was  considered  to  be  the 
best.  These  statements  are  intelligible  enough,  and  point 
to  the  cerussa  usta  of  the  ancients,  burned  white  lead, — our 
"mine  orange,"  or  "orange  mineral,"  —  as  the  substance 
referred  to;  but  Pliny,  continuing,  says:  "It  is  also  prepared 
at  Rome  by  calcining  '  marbled  sil,'  and  quenching  it  with 
vinegar."  Sil  is  described  by  Pliny  as  "  a  pigment  found  in 
mines  of  gold  and  silver,  and  is,  properly  speaking,  a  kind 
of  slime." 2  Commentators  upon  this  passage  are  of  the 
opinion  that  sil  was  an  argillaceous  earth,  colored  with 

1  Davy's  Collected  Works,  vol.  vi.  p.  138. 

2  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiv.  chap.  liv.  and  book  xxxv.  chap,  xx.,  xxxv. 


340  LEAD  OXIDES. 

iron  ochres  of  various  shades  of  yellow  and  of  brown. 
The  connection  by  Pliny  of  the  substance  prepared  at 
Rome  from  sil  with  the  true  usta  prepared  from  white 
lead,  and  the  coincidence  of  names,  is  another  example  of 
the  obscurity  and  inaccuracy  of  Pliny,  or  of  the  ignorance 
which  prevailed  at  the  time  respecting  the  properties  of 
many  substances  used  as  pigments. 

Pliny's  description  of  the  method  of  preparing  cerussa 
usta  covers  all  the  essential  points  of  the  modern  method 
of  making  orange  mineral ;  but  besides  cerussa  usta,  this 
product  was  known  in  his  time  as  sandyx  and  syricum. 
As  has  been  observed,  the  name  "minium  "  was  first  applied 
to  cinnabar,  —  mercuric  sulphide,  —  and  the  source  of  our 
vermilion ;  but  this  substance  becoming  subject  to  adul- 
teration with  cerussa  usta,  the  name  "  minium,"  after  being 
long  used  to  designate  both  cinnabar  and  red  lead,  was  at 
last  applied  only  to  the  latter  substance.1  Pliny  and  other 
ancient  writers  refer  to  "spuma  argenti/'  the  scoria  or 
scum  of  silver.  Pliny  mentions  three  varieties  of  this 
substance :  that  most  in  favor  was  known  as  "  chrysitis," 
the  second  best  was  called  "  argyritis,"  and  the  third  bore 
the  name  "  molybditis."  The  distinction  between  these 
varieties  appears  to  have  been  one  of  shade  of  color  only,  as 
Pliny  says  that  "  in  some  instances  all  these  tints  are  to  be 
found  in  the  same  cake."  The  most  approved  kind,  Pliny 
states,  was  produced  in  Attica;  the  next  in  favor  came 
from  Spain.  Chrysitis  was  "the  produce  of  the  metallic 
vein ;  "  argyritis  was  obtained  from  the  silver  itself ;  while 
molybditis  was  produced  in  smelting  lead  at  the  works  at 
Puteoli.  Pliny  describes  the  methods  employed  in  pro- 
ducing these  substances,  as  follows:  "The  metal  is  first 
melted,  and  then  allowed  to  flow  from  a  more  elevated  re- 
ceiver to  a  lower  one ;  from  this  last  it  is  lifted  by  the 
aid  of  iron  spits,  and  is  then  twirled  round  at  the  end  of 

1  Theophrastus,  Histcny  of  Stones,  note  by  Sir  John  Hill,  p.  227. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.      341 

the  spit  in  the  midst  of  the  flame,  in  order  to  make  it  all 
the  lighter ;  thus,  as  may  be  readily  perceived  from  the 
name,  it  is  in  reality  the  scum  of  a  substance  in  a  state 
of  fusion." l  In  another  chapter  Pliny  describes  molyb- 
dena,  which  he  also  calls  galena,  as  a  mineral  compounded 
of  silver  and  lead;  "it  is  considered  better  in  quality," 
he  says,  "the  nearer  it  approaches  golden  in  color,  and 
the  less  lead  it  contains;  it  is  also  friable  and  of  mod- 
erate weight;  it  is  found  adhering  to  furnaces  in  which 
gold  and  silver  have  been  smelted,  and  in  this  case  it  is 
called  metallic.  The  most  esteemed  kind  is  that  prepared 
at  Zephyrium,"  2  in  Cilicia. 

In  these  statements  Pliny  refers  unquestionably  to  va- 
rieties of  litharge,  —  the  yellow  and  the  flake  litharge, 
sometimes  called  golden,  —  though  some  authorities  are 
of  the  opinion  that  in  the  passage  where  he  treats  of 
molybdena,  he  refers  to  Roman  stannum ;  but  he  men- 
tions its  color  as  being  sometimes  near  golden,  and  that  it 
was  friable,  —  which  describes  litharge  very  accurately, 
and  is  not  at  all  like  Roman  stannum.3 

The  localities  mentioned  by  Pliny,  where  litharge  was 
procured,  may  perhaps  afford  a  clue  to  the  principal  seats, 
in  his  time,  of  the  production  of  silver  by  the  process  of 
cupellation  ;  which  were  in  Greece,  in  Spain,  and  in  Cilicia. 
It  is  probable  that  the  stannum  produced  at  the  furnaces 
of  some  of  the  mines  was  desilverized  by  cupellation  at 
Puteoli,  as  Pliny  says  the  Puteolian  variety  was  the  result 
of  smelting  lead.  Puteoli  was  an  important  seaport  of 
Campania,  and  was  the  chief  emporium  for  the  commerce 
with  Spain. 

In  Matthioli's  edition  of  Dioscorides,  spuma  argenti  is 

1  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxiii.  chap.  xxxv. 

2  Ibid.,  book  xxxiv.  chap.  liii. 

3  Ibid.,  book  xxxiv.  chap,  liii.,  note  ;  also  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions, 
etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  211. 


342  LEAD  OXIDES. 

described  as  produced  by  heating  to  incandescence  in  a 
furnace,  "  sand  which  they  called  leaden."  Another  va- 
riety was  produced  from  silver,  and  a  third  from  lead. 
That  most  preferred  was  produced  in  Attica ;  the  next 
best  variety  was  the  Spanish ;  while  that  made  at  Puteoli, 
in  Campania,  and  in  Sicily,  was  made  by  heating  laminae 
of  lead,  and  seemed  to  hold  the  lowest  place  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  writer.  That  which  possessed  a  brilliant 
yellow  color  was  termed  chrysitis,  and  was  esteemed 
the  best ;  that  made  in  Sicily  was  called  argyritis,  and 
that  produced  from  silver  was  termed  calabritis.  The 
spuma  argenti  produced  from  the  sand  which  they  call 
leaden  may  refer  to  some  substance  other  than  litharge ; 
but  there  is  no  question  respecting  the  other  varieties, 
particularly  that  described  as  made  from  lead.  The  spuma 
argenti  produced  from  silver  was  undoubtedly  lead  oxi- 
dized in  refining  the  noble  metal,  and  litharge  is  the  sub- 
stance referred  to.1  Litharge  produced  in  refining  silver 
continued  to  be  known  by  the  name  spuma  argenti,  or  "  the 
scum  of  silver,"  for  many  centuries.  Agricola,  writing 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  applies  the  term  to  the  oxide  of 
lead  produced  in  the  desilverizing  of  argentiferous  lead ; 
and  Matthioli,  in  a  chapter  headed  "  Molybdena,  or  Plum- 
bago," says :  "  Molybdena  is,  like  spuma  argenti.,  reddish 
yellow,  moderately  bright,  and  when  rubbed,  is  yellow, 
when  digested  with  oil  it  acquires  a  liver  color.  It  is 
generated  in  furnaces  containing  gold  and  silver."  2  Beck- 
mann  says  the  first  author  in  whose  writings  he  has 
found  certain  mention  of  plumbago,  or  graphite,  is  Gesner, 
who  mentions  its  use  in  a  work  published  in  1565  \ 8  and 
surely  Dioscorides,  in  the  above  paragraph,  does  not  de- 
scribe the  mineral  graphite.  This  is  another  instance 
of  the  provoking  confusion  of  names ;  and  to  increase  the 

1  Dioscorides,  Matthioli's  Commentaries,  p.  666.  2  Ibid.,  p.  665. 

8  Beckmann,  History  of  Inventions,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  390. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.      343 

perplexity,  Sprengel,  whose  edition  of  Dioscorides  is  con- 
sidered to  be  the  best,  heads  this  chapter  "  Galena ; "  but 
he  substitutes  the  term  "  litharge  "  for  spuma  ar genii.  Dios- 
corides further  states  that  there  was  a  certain  mineral 
found  near  Sebosti  and  Corycus,  of  which  the  most  ap- 
proved examples  were  yellow  and  shining,  and  had  proper- 
ties similar  to  spuma  argenti.  It  was  washed  and  purified  in 
a  similar  manner.  The  litharge  of  that  time  was  probably 
produced  almost  entirely  in  the  process  of  purifying  the 
noble  metals.  Its  production  directly  from  lead  was 
doubtless  practised  in  a  small  way  only.  Dioscorides  de- 
scribes several  methods  of  preparing  plumbum  ustum.  In 
one  case  he  recommends  its  preparation  by  heating  fine 
laminae  or  shavings  of  lead,  mixed  with  sulphur,  in  an 
iron  or  earthen  vessel,  stirring  meanwhile  with  an  iron 
rod  until  it  is  reduced  to  ashes.  Sometimes  barley  was 
added  in  place  of  the  sulphur,  or  ceruse  was  occasionally 
so  employed.  What  is  described  as  a  more  difficult  method 
of  producing  litharge  is  "  burning  the  lead  without  the  ad- 
mixture of  any  other  substance  ;  "  but  when  this  was  com- 
pletely done  "  it  resembled  spuma  argenti,  or  litharge,  in 
color."  1 

This  is  the  earliest  notice  of  the  production  of  litharge, 
as  a  primary  product,  from  metallic  lead.  All  former  ref- 
erences to  this  substance  treat  of  it  as  a  by-product  in  the 
cupellation  of  argentiferous  lead,  or  describe  its  production 
in  the  purification  of  silver  or  gold  by  the  aid  of  lead. 

In  ancient  times  the  preparation  of  red  lead  by  reheat- 
ing litharge  seems  to  have  been  unknown.  Cerussa  usta, 
our  orange  mineral,  was  used  in  all  cases  where  red  lead 
was  required.  Dioscorides  says  ceruse  is  roasted  in  the 
following  manner :  "  Put  a  new  earthen  vessel,  best  of  all 
an  Attic  one,  over  coals ;  sprinkle  in  it  powdered  ceruse, 
stir  constantly,  and  when  it  shall  have  acquired  the  color 

1  Dioscorides,  Matthioli's  Commentaries,  p.  662. 


344  LEAD  OXIDES. 

of  ashes,  remove  and  cool  and  so  use  it.  But  if  you  desire 
to  burn  it,  place  it  powdered  in  a  hollow  platter,  and 
having  set  this  on  the  coals,  stir  with  an  iron  rod  until  it 
attains  the  color  of  sandarach ;  then  take  it  out  and  use/' l 

Dioscorides  describes  litharge  under  the  names  of  mo- 
lybdena  and  spuma  argenti,  the  product  of  cupellation, 
and  also  by  the  name  of  plumbum  us  turn,  burnt  or  roasted 
lead;  while  for  red  lead  he  adopts  the  cerussa  usta  de- 
scribed by  Pliny,  and  recommends  the  treatment  of  white 
lead  by  fire.  He  says  that  argentum  vivum,  by  which  he 
means  quicksilver,  is  made  from  minio,  —  minium,  Pliny's 
name  for  cinnabar.  Notwithstanding  this  misapplication 
of  names,  Dioscorides  appears  by  his  descriptions  and  state- 
ments to  have  had  a  clear  idea  of  the  properties  of  these 
bodies,  of  the  substances  from  which  they  were  derived, 
and  of  the  methods  employed  in  their  preparation. 

Minium  was  in  use  in  the  time  of  Vitruvius  and  Pliny 
for  interior  decorations.  It  is  constantly  referred  to  by 
writers  of  that  period;  and  from  the  very  general  custom 
of  elaborate  interior  decoration,  it  was  doubtless  used  in 
considerable  quantities.  Vitruvius  tells  us  that  the  an- 
cients decorated  their  interior  walls  with  pictures  of  men, 
horses,  ships,  etc.,  often  very  elaborately  executed,  but  in 
proper  taste ;  whereas  in  his  time  the  public  taste  leaned 
towards  strong  and  gaudy  coloring;  and  for  the  effect 
which  was  formerly  obtained  only  by  the  skill  of  the 
artist,  "  a  prodigal  expense  is  now  substituted."  "  Who, 
in  former  times,"  he  continues,  "  used  minium,  except  in 
medicine  ?  In  the  present  age,  however,  walls  are  every- 
where covered  with  it."  2  In  this  passage  Vitruvius  refers 
to  cinnabar,  which  was  much  more  valuable  than  cerussa 
usta;  but  this  latter  substance,  our  orange  mineral,  was 
well  known  and  much  used,  both  as  a  substitute  for,  and 
as  an  adulterant  of,  the  more  expensive  cinnabar.  Among 

1  Dioscorides,  Matthioli's  Commentaries,  p.  667.  2  Vitruvius,  p.  212. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.      345 

the  substances  found  in  a  vase  discovered  in  excavating 
in  the  baths  of  Titus,  Davy  detected  red  lead ;  and  a  deep 
yellow,  which  covered  a  piece  of  stucco  found  in  the  ruins 
near  the  monument  of  Caius  Cestius,  proved  upon  analysis 
to  be  lead  oxide,  and  consisted  of  litharge  mixed  with  red 
lead.  Davy  detected  the  presence  of  red  lead  in  several 
analyses  of  colors  found  in  the  ruins  of  ancient  Rome ; 
and  he  thought  that  the  pale  sandarach,  said  by  Pliny  to 
have  been  found  in  gold  and  silver  mines,  and  which 
he  says  was  imitated  in  Rome  by  a  partial  calcination  of 
ceruse,  must  have  been  litharge,  the  yellow  oxide  of  lead, 
or  that  substance  mixed  with  red  lead.1 

The  term  minium  was  still  applied  to  cinnabar  and  to 
other  native  red  pigments  in  the  seventh  century.  Isi- 
dore, of  Seville,  probably  refers  to  cinnabar  when  he  says 
that  "  minium  was  first  found  near  Ephesus,  but  it  is  more 
abundant  in  Spain.'1  He  also  states  that  minium  was  pro- 
duced in  the  separation  of  silver  from  argentiferous  lead. 
Possibly  this  was  classed  by  him,  as  by  Pliny,  as  minium 
of  second  quality.  Isidore,  of  Seville,  describes  sandarach 
as  a  production  of  the  island  of  Topazo  in  the  Red  Sea. 
Pliny  refers  to  this  source  of  sandarach,  by  which  name 
he  possibly  indicates  a  salt  of  antimony  or  of  arsenic.  A 
spurious  kind,  he  says,  was  prepared  by  calcining  ceruse  in 
the  furnace.2  Isidore,  following  Pliny  as  usual,  tells  us 
that  sandarach  was  produced  by  subjecting  ceruse  to  heat ; 
and  that  if  it  was  heated  a  second  time  it  acquired  a  flame 
color.3 

In  Geber's  writings  red  lead  is  termed  "zinnobars." 
Albertus  Magnus  and  other  alchemical  writers  followed 
Geber  in  this  and  used  the  same  term. 

In  the  middle  ages  minium  was  rarely  confounded  with 

1  Davy's  Collected  Works,  vol.  vi.  pp.  135,  139. 

2  Pliny,  Natural  History,  book  xxxv.  chap.  xxii. 

8  Eraclius,  De  Coloribus,  etc.,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  254. 


346  LEAD   OXIDES. 

native  cinnabar,  which  seems  to  have  been  neglected  as 
a  pigment,  while  artificially  prepared  vermilion  was  much 
used.  Eraclius  mentions  vermilion,  and  directs  the  artist 
to  mix  it  with  white  lead  "to  make  the  color  called 
rosa."  l  Theophilus  and  Saint  Audemar  describe  the  pro- 
cess of  making  vermilion  from  quicksilver ;  Cennini  says 
it  is  made  in  an  alembic,  by  a  chemical  process  "too 
tedious  to  describe,  but  for  which,  if  you  desire  to  labor 
at  it  yourself,  you  may  find  many  recipes,  especially  among 
the  friars."  2  The  methods  employed  in  its  preparation 
were  well  known  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  after  this 
period  we  are  no  longer  in  doubt  as  to  the  substance 
referred  to  by  writers  who  treat  of  minium. 

According  to  Eraclius,  "  to  make  red  minium,  you  must 
put  ceruse  in  a  jar,  and  place  it  on  the  fire  and  keep 
stirring  it  until  it  becomes  red.  If  you  cease  stirring,  it 
will  turn  back  to  ceruse."  3  Theophilus  describes  its  man- 
ufacture in  much  the  same  manner :  "  You  must  grind 
ceruse  upon  a  stone  without  water,  and  then  placing  it  in 
two  or  three  new  pots,  put  it  upon  hot  coals,  stirring  it 
from  time  to  time  with  a  curved  iron  rod,  curved  at  one 
end  and  flat  on  top  and  provided  with  a  wooden  handle. 
You  must  heat  and  stir  it  until  the  minium  becomes  quite 
red." 4  The  compiler  of  "Mappae  Clavicula  "  adds  a  recipe 
for  making  minium  as  follows :  "  Pulverize  ceruse  thor- 
oughly; heat  it  over  coals,  stirring  all  the  time  if  you 
wish  to  make  it  red,  after  which  set  it  aside  to  cool." 6 

These  authors  do  not  mention  the  manufacture  of 
minium  from  metallic  lead ;  they  describe  the  manufacture 
of  what  the  Romans  termed  cerussa  usta,  —  our  orange 
mineral.  They  do  not  refer  to  litharge  as  a  pigment  in 

1  See  Theophilus,  Hendrie,  p.  420  ;  also  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises, 
etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  138. 

2  Cennino  Cennini,  p.  23. 

8  Eraclius,  De  Coloribus,  etc.,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  236. 

4  Theophilus,  Hendrie,  p.  49.  6  Mappae  Clavicula  ;  Archseologia. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.  347 

common  use,  although  they  were  acquainted  with  the  pro- 
duction of  this  substance  in  the  purification  of  silver. 
Theophilus,  however,  describes  the  composition  of  a  color 
to  be  used  in  painting  faces,  as  follows :  "  Take  ceruse  and 
put  it  dry  and  without  grinding  into  a  copper  or  iron  vessel, 
place  it  upon  glowing  coals,  and  burn  it  until  it  is  converted 
into  a  yellow  color ;  then  grind  it  and  mix  it  with  white 
ceruse  and  cinnabar  until  it  is  converted  into  a  color  like 
flesh."  a  Theophilus  gives  no  name  to  the  substance  re- 
sulting from  this  process.  It  is  almost  precisely  like  his 
description  of  the  manufacture  of  minium  ;  and  undoubtedly 
litharge,  or  partially  decarbonized  white  lead,  is  the  pro- 
duct desired,  and  would  result  if  the  oxidation  was  not 
carried  too  far ;  grinding  would  impair  the  color  and  make 
it  buff  if  it  was  thoroughly  oxidized. 

After  the  revival  of  art  in  Italy,  minium  was  much  in 
favor  with  artists.  The  compilers  of  formulae  and  recipes 
of  the  latter  half  of  the  middle  ages  do  not  fail  to  mention 
it  frequently,  and  to  give  —  sometimes  with  great  care 
and  minuteness  —  directions  for  its  preparation.  Petrus  de 
Sancto  Audemaro  says  :  "  You  may  convert  the  white  color, 
which  is  called  ceruse  by  the  armourers,  into  minium  by 
putting  it  into  a  jar  and  torrefying  it  over  the  fire  for  two 
days  and  two  nights,  stirring  it  frequently  in  the  vase  or 
jar  with  any  instrument.  And  this  is  the  way  to  make 
minium.  Take  care  not  to  let  any  flame  get  inside  the 
jar;  but  make  the  fire  of  charcoal  only,  without  flame.'* 
The  charcoal  should  be  large,  so  that  the  air  may  pass 
through  the  spaces  of  it  and  keep  up  the  heat ;  it  should 
not  be  small,  for  then  it  would  be  useless.  When  it  begins 
to  get  hot,  stir  the  color  which  is  inside  with  a  spoon  or 
ladle,  a  strip  of  brass  or  iron,  so  that  the  hot  color  which 
is  next  the  side  of  the  vase  may  be  mixed  with  the  tepid 
part  in  the  middle  ;  for  this  stirring  is  the  principal  cause 

1  Theophilus,  Hendrie,  p.  3. 


348  LEAD  OXIDES. 

of  the  perfect  preparation  of  all  which  is  thus  torrefied ; 
and  this  stirring  must  be  repeated  four  or  five  times  every 
two  or  three  hours.  This  process  must  be  conducted  for 
two  days  and  two  nights  following,  not  sleeping  all  the 
time,  unless  you  have  another  to  supply  your  place  and  to 
continue  stirring  and  to  take  care  of  your  fire,  or  your 
labor  will  be  in  vain."  l 

The  author  of  this  description  uses  the  term  "  sandaracca  " 
as  synonymous  with  "  minium ; "  he  says,  "  If  I  am  not 
mistaken,  minium,  that  is,  sandaracca,  and  white  lead,  that 
is,  ceruse,  are  of  one  nature.  If  you  put  ceruse  into  the  fire 
it  takes  a  new  name  and  color  and  strength,  because  the 
more  it  is  burned  the  redder  it  is ;  and  the  less  it  is  burned 
the  more  it  retains  its  former  color,  that  is,  its  whiteness 
or  its  paleness.  In  laying  it  on  walls  it  is  ground  with 
gum-water,  but  never  with  egg.  It  can,  however,  be  laid 
upon  parchment  distempered  with  egg,  but  on  wood  it 
must  be  mixed  with  oil."  2 

Cennini  was  of  the  opinion  that  minium  should  be  used 
only  in  pictures.  If  it  was  used  on  walls,  on  exposure  to 
the  air  he  says  it  suddenly  became  black  and  lost  its 
color.3 

In  the  formulae  of  the  later  manuscripts  an  important  de- 
parture from  the  methods  described  by  earlier  writers  may 
be  noticed.  Ceruse  is  no  longer  the  only  substance  recom- 
mended to  be  used  for  the  production  of  minium.  In  the 
collections  of  recipes  entitled  "  Segreti  per  Colori,"  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  it  is  recommended  that  calcined  litharge 
and  lead  be  prepared  together  over  the  fire  ; 4  and  Le  Brun 
says :  "  Minium  is  made  of  lead  melted  in  an  earthen 
vessel  over  the  fire,  and  stirred  with  a  stick  until  the 
whole  is  changed  into  minium,  which  is  found  attached 

1  St.  Audemar,  De  Coloribus  Faciendis,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  124. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  140.  8  Cennini,  p.  24. 
4  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  ii.  p.  484. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.      349 

to  the  side  of  the  vessel."  This  author  also  says  that  if 
white  lead  is  heated  in  a  furnace  its  color  will  be  changed 
and  it  will  be  converted  into  sandaracque  or  massicot.1 

These  authors  describe  methods  of  purifying  minium 
by  grinding  and  washing  it  carefully  several  times  with 
fresh  water.  They  recommend  several  vehicles  for  apply- 
ing it,  —  water,  honey,  and  gum-water,  as  well  as  linseed 
oil. 

While  minium,  or  red  lead,  was  not  confounded  with 
cinnabar  in  the  latter  part  of  the  middle  ages,  the  confu- 
sion regarding  its  name  which  existed  in  Pliny's  time 
continued  with  little  abatement  for  several  centuries. 
Vitruvius  and  Dioscorides  termed  cerussa  usta  sandaracca, 
and  the  compilers  of  the  manuscripts  which  have  been  re- 
ferred to  use  the  same  term  with  frequently  slight  changes 
in  the  orthography.  Matthioli  says  :  "  Formerly,  according 
to  Galen,  sandyx  was  made  by  burning  ceruse,"  and  Dioscor- 
ides speaks  of  treating  arsenic  by  heat,  by  which  "one 
gets  the  common  officinal  minium." 2  The  Spanish  name 
for  minium  was  azarcon.  In  Italy  it  was  known  as 
sandaracca,  sandyx,  and  as  sandice.  Its  names  in  Arabic 
were  afrengi,  sarchon,  sandicon,  syrengi,  serengi.  In  the 
Mt.  Athos  manuscript  it  is  termed  lampezi.3  It  was  known 
as  "minio,"  and  "  mine,"  and  when  washed  and  purified,  it 
is  supposed  to  be  the  color  known  to  painters  in  the  middle 
age  as  "  saturnine  red." 

Litharge,  as  before  mentioned,  is  noticed  but  rarely  in 
the  manuscripts  of  the  middle  ages.  Possibly  it  was  not  in 
favor  as  a  pigment  earlier  than  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth centuries.  Le  Begue,  in  his  table  of  synonymes, 
tells  us  that  flavus  color  is  made  by  burning  ceruse,4  and 

1  Pierre  Le  Bran,  La  Peinture,  etc.  ;  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc., 
vol.  ii.  pp.  804,  806. 

2  Dioscorides,  Matthioli's  Commentaries,  p.  665. 

8  Didron,  Manuel  d'Iconographie  Chretienne,  etc.,  p.  47. 

4  MS.  of  Le  Begue;  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  p.  26. 


350  LEAD   OXIDES. 

Cennini  says  there  is  a  yellow  color,  called  arzica,  which 
is  the  produce  of  chemistry  and  is  little  used.1  Litharge  is 
possibly  the  substance  referred  to  in  these  statements. 

In  the  manuscript  of  Le  Begue  litharge  is  referred  to  as 
sandaraca,  and  is  said  to  be  of  the  same  nature  as  minium 
and  ceruse,  and  that  when  heated  these  substances  change 
their  name,  strength,  and  color.2  In  the  Marciana  manu- 
script entitled  "  Secreti  Diversi,"  the  preparation  of  "  burnt 
lead,"  to  be  used  in  the  manufacture  of  glass,  is  described. 
Lead  is  placed  in  a  vase  over  a  fire  strong  enough  to  liquefy 
it ;  when  in  a  molten  state  the  mass  is  skimmed,  and  the 
skimmings  are  afterwards  refined  by  putting  them  in 
another  vase,  which  is  heated,  and  the  contents  are  stirred 
until  all  is  thoroughly  calcined.  The  substance  produced 
was  litharge.3 

The  giallolino  of  the  Italian  painters  of  the  sixteenth 
century  was  probably  litharge,  though  considerable  con- 
fusion existed  respecting  its  name.  Some  writers  term  it 
giallolino  di  Fiandra,  or  giallolino  di  Alamagna,  from 
which  it  is  inferred  that  it  was  produced  in  Flanders  and 
Germany,  and  brought  thence  to  Italy.  One  variety  was 
called  giallolino  fino,  which  was  also  probably  litharge, 
but  another,  which  was  prepared  at  Venice,  appears  to 
have  been  composed  of  giallolino  fino  and  giallolino  de  vetro  ; 
this  latter  substance  was  composed  of  lead  and  tin  melted 
and  calcined.  Naples  yellow,  called  giallolino  di  Napoli, 
was  composed  of  the  oxides  of  lead  and  of  antimony,  and 
was  originally  prepared  at  Naples.  This  color  is  referred 
to  by  Cennini,  who  says  it  is  a  real  stone  found  in  moun- 
tainous volcanic  districts  ;  therefore,  he  says,  "  it  is  an 
artificial  pigment,  but  not  a  chemical  production.  It  is, 
however,  artificially  prepared  by  a  secret  process  in  Italy." 

1  Cennino  Cennini,  p.  28. 

2  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  314. 
8  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  614. 


DEVELOPMENT   OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.  351 

Mrs.  Merrifield  thought  that  there  were  two  varieties  of 
giallolino  di  Napoli,  one  a  native  mineral  pigment,  and 
the  other  artificially  prepared.1  Merimee  says  of  jaune  de 
Naples,  "  The  discovery  of  this  color  must  date  from  a  high 
antiquity,  the  epoch  of  the  making  of  enamels."  This 
pigment  was  composed  principally  of  lead  oxide,  with  the 
addition  of  antimony  and  other  substances  in  varying 
proportions.2 

Litharge  has  borne  many  names.  In  Greece  it  was 
termed  lithargyrus ;  Pliny  and  other  early  writers  term  it 
spuma  argenti ;  the  Arabian  names  mentioned  by  Matthioli 
are  martech  and  merdasengi ;  it  was  called  almartaga, 
genuli,  litargino,  and  yezes  de  oro,  in  Spain.  Matthioli 
says  if  it  contained  much  silver  it  was  called  "  litharge  of 
gold ; "  if  less  it  was  termed  "  litharge  of  silver."  These 
names  evidently  were  given  on  account  of  its  color,  which 
varies  according  to  the  degree  of  heat  to  which  it  has  been 
exposed.  In  Italy  in  the  middle  ages  litharge  was  called 
giallolino  fino,  giallolino  di  Fiandra,  giallolino  di  Ala- 
magna,  luteolum  Belgicum,  and  massicot.  Jehan  le  Begue 
refers  to  it  as  flavus  color.  In  France  it  was  called  fin 
jaune;  in  the  Paduan  manuscript  it  is  termed  gialdo  di 
piombo,  and  gialdolino  ;  in  the  Bolognese  manuscript  it  is 
called  terragietta  and  litargirio  ;  Volpato  refers  to  it  as 
retargirio,  and  Le  Brun  terms  it  sandaracque,  fin  jaune,  and 
litarge?  An  English  writer  of  the  seventeenth  century 
calls  red  lead  "  mene,"  and  litharge  "  masticote." 

In  a  curious  "  Collection  of  Scarce  and  Valuable  Trea- 
tises," published  in  London  in  1738,  is  a  treatise  upon 
"  The  Art  of  Metals "  by  Alonzo  Barba,  a  Spanish  priest. 

1  See  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  156  et  seq. ;  also  Cen- 
nino  Cennini,  p.  26. 

2  Merimee,  De  La  Peinture  a  1'Huile,  p.  110. 

8  See  Mrs.  Merrifield's  Original  Treatises,  etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  26,  vol.  ii.  pp.  536, 
705,  741,  817 ;  also  Dioscorides,  Matthioli's  Commentaries,  p.  667. 
4  Sanderson,  Graphice,  p.  55. 


352  LEAD  OXIDES. 

Barba  says,  "  Sandix  [meaning  red  lead]  is  made  of  albay- 
aide  [white  lead]  burnt  in  the  fire,  which  some  improperly 
call  sandaracca"  This  substance,  he  explains,  "  is  only 
orpiment  well  concocted." 

In  the  oxidation  of  metallic  lead  the  products  take 
different  shades  or  tints,  depending  upon  the  intensity  of 
the  heat,  the  time  consumed  in  the  operations,  and  other 
circumstances.  This  explanation  will  satisfactorily,  per- 
haps, account  for  much  of  the  confusion  respecting  the 
name  of  this  substance  which  existed  prior  to  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  for  the  apparent  contradictions  of  the 
early  writers  who  treat  of  this  subject. 

The  aggressive  character  of  the  Dutch  manufacturers 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  led  them  to 
engage  largely  in  the  manufacture  of  lead  oxides.  En- 
couraged by  their  success  in  driving  Venetian  white  lead 
over  the  Alps,  they  strove  to  monopolize  the  trade  in 
oxides  ;  but  since  they  procured  their  raw  materials  from 
other  countries  where  these  oxides  were  a  by-product  in 
the  purification  of  argentiferous  lead,  their  enterprise  could 
not  counterbalance  their  disadvantageous  location.  We 
find,  therefore,  that  in  the  seventeenth  century  the  English 
manufacturers  competed  with  them,  supplying  the  increas- 
ing demand  for  these  substances  at  lower  prices  than  the 
cost  of  production  to  their  less  favorably  situated  neighbors. 
They  treated  the  litharge  produced  in  cupelling  their 
argentiferous  lead,  and  exported  the  product  in  large 
quantities  to  all  parts  of  Europe. 

In  1622  Christopher  Eland  received  a  patent  by  the 
provisions  of  which  the  patentee  "  shall  take  and  receive 
from  makers,  if  they  will  continue  to  make  the  same,  such 
a  quantity  of  redd  leade  as  may  bee  conveniently,  sould 
within  this  our  realme  of  Englande  yearly,  paying  soe 
much  as  himselfe  and  others  have  paid  heretofore,  accord- 
ing to  such  quantitie  and  porcons  as  the  fower  work- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.      353 

houses  nowe  ymployed  for  the  making  thereof  (Christopher 
Eland  being  one)  doe  nowe  usuallie  make  by  equal  por- 
cons."  It  appears  from  the  terms  of  this  specification 
that  at  that  time  there  were  four  establishments  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  red  lead  in  England.  The  patent 
seems  to  have  been  simply  the  grant  of  a  monopoly  of  the 
traffic  in  red  lead  in  England.  Eland  possibly  enjoyed 
this  monopoly  for  twelve  years.  The  letters-patent  were 
surrendered  in  1634.1 

In  1670  Sir  John  Pettus  mentions  the  red-lead  mills  of 
the  mines  in  Cardiganshire,  in  which  eleven  men  were  em- 
ployed.2 In  a  report  of  a  commission  in  1708  it  is  stated 
that  two  furnaces  for  making  red  lead  existed  in  Glamor- 
ganshire.3 Smith,  writing  in  1676,  directs  that  litharge 
should  be  made  out  of  common  lead  and  then  should  be 
ground  and  treated  in  a  hot  furnace  with  constant  stirring ; 
the  product,  red  lead,  he  says,  is  the  only  color  used  to  make 
drying  oil.*  Pomet  says  of  this  substance :  "  The  red 
lead  which  we  call  minium  is  lead  ore  pulverized,  calcined, 
and  reduced  to  such  a  powder  as  we  see.  It  is  wrong  to 
think  that  the  red  lead  which  is  brought  from  England  is 
made  of  pig-lead ;  the  cheapness  of  it  shows  it  to  be  other- 
wise, and  that  it  is  made  of  lead  ore  as  it  comes  from  the 
mines ;  besides,  pig-lead  will  never  come  to  that  redness  as 

1  Abridgments  of  Patents,  etc.,  p.  1.     Monopolies  were  common  in  England 
in  the  sixteenth  century.      The  necessities  of  the  crown  led  the  king  to  grant 
such  favors  for  a  money  consideration,  and  the  policy  of  the  times  dictated  the 
restriction  of  certain  trades  or  manufactures  within  particular  limits.    Merchants 
were  granted  a  monopoly  of  the  sale  of  certain  goods  or  wares  and  the  manufac- 
ture of  some  articles  was  restricted  by  law  to  certain  towns.     Early  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  however,  this  restriction  of  commerce  became  so  intolerable 
that  the  people  demanded  the  abolishment  of  all  monopolies ;  and  in  1624  an 
edict  was  published  declaring  all  monopolies,  with  the  exception  of  certain 
patents,  null  and  void. 

2  Quoted  by  Hunt,  British  Mining,  p.  154. 

8  Grant-Francis,  Smelting  of  Copper  in  the  Swansea  District,  etc.  (London, 
1881),  p.  84. 

4  Smith,  Painting  in  Oyl  (edition  of  1676),  p.  21. 

23 


354  LEAD   OXIDES. 

lead  ore,  whatever  fire  you  give  to  it."  l  As  France  in  that 
day  produced  little  or  no  metallic  lead,  it  is  probable  that 
Pomet  was  unaware  of  the  fact  that  in  the  desilverization 
of  lead  in  England  litharge  was  produced  in  quantities 
far  in  excess  of  the  demand  in  that  country,  and  that  the 
English  smelters  were  only  too  glad  to  dispose  of  this  sub- 
stance at  prices  considerably  less  than  the  value  of  metallic 
lead,  rather  than  to  reduce  it  by  treatment  in  a  blast  fur- 
nace. Pomet  also  seems  to  have  been  ignorant  of  the  fact 
that  it  is  necessary  to  reheat  litharge  to  produce  red  lead. 
While  the  Dutch  lost  their  trade  in  litharge,  they  seem 
to  have  retained  their  position  as  manufacturers  of  Pliny's 
cerussa  usta,  our  orange  mineral.  Huet  refers  to  this  fact.2 
Pomet  distinguishes  the  difference  between  red  lead  and 
orange  mineral.  He  says,  "  Sandyx,  or  red  ceruse,  is  noth- 
ing but  ceruse  reddened  over  a  gentle  fire."  It  was  but 
little  used  in  his  time,  and  he  claims  that  the  writers  who 
state  that  minium  was  made  from  white  lead  are  in  error ; 
as  white  lead  came  from  Holland,  while  minium  came  from 
England  and  was  cheaper  than  ceruse.3  Pomet,  it  will  be 
observed,  gives  the  old  name,  sandix,  to  our  orange  mineral. 
Lemery,  who  edited  Pomet' s  work,  observes  that  red  lead 
is  called  minium  from  the  word  "  mina,"  "  because  it  is 
made  of  lead  as  it  comes  from  the  mine."3 

Pomet  states  that  masticot  is  of  three  sorts,  "  depending 
upon  the  degree  of  fire  to  which  they  give  the  powder  of 
white  lead.  The  least  heat  gives  the  white  (which  is  not 
white  but  yellow),  the  second  has  received  a  stronger  degree 
of  heat ;  the  third,  a  gold  color,  has  been  subjected  to  a 
strong  fire,  a  fourth  has  been  yet  longer  treated  and  is 
called  sandyx"  3  Von  Justi  says  that  massicot  is  made 
from  bleyweiss  —  white  lead  —  by  allowing  a  flame  to  pass 

1  Pomet,  A  Compleat  History  of  Druggs,  p.  124. 

2  See  Huet,  Review  of  the  Dutch  Trade. 

8  M.  Pomet,  A  Compleat  History  of  Drnggs,  p.  124. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.      355 

over  it  while  it  is  stirred,  and  is  of  many  tints,  yellow, 
yellow-red,  and  red.  He  states  that  it  was  very  expen- 
sive, and  in  the  end  no  better  than  bleygelb  and  menige, 
meaning  litharge  and  red  lead  made  from  metallic  lead.1 
Massicot  was  at  that  time  distinguished  from  litharge, 
probably  as  being  the  product  of  the  oxidation  of  white 
lead  at  a  heat  sufficient  to  drive  off  the  carbon  dioxide, 
but  insufficient  to  effect  the  complete  oxidation  necessary 
to  produce  red  lead. 

Savary,  in  his  "Universal  Dictionary"  (1751),  gives  a  very 
clear  description  of  the  manufacture  of  red  lead,  and  shows 
that  he  fully  understands  the  process  he  describes.  He 
says  we  are  first  to  melt  lead  in  a  broad  vessel,  with  con- 
stant stirring,  until  it  is  calcined  to  a  gray  powder ;  the 
stirring  should  be  continued,  when  it  will  change  to  a  yel- 
low and  become  the  masticot  of  commerce  which  is  used 
in  painting.  "  If  this  masticot  be  then  calcined  in  a  rever- 
beratory  furnace,"  he  says,  "  it  will  change  its  hue  to  a 
fine  red  color  and  become  the  common  minium."  2  Yon 
Justi  refers  to  the  manufacture  of  red  lead  in  England, 
Holland,  and  in  Nuremberg,  and  says  it  is  produced  by  the 
action  of  fire  upon  litharge  in  red-lead  furnaces.  He  says 
it  cannot  be  made  from  galena  without  first  driving  off 
the  sulphur,  "  which  is  a  needless  thing  to  do  when  we 
have  so  much  litharge  and  other  suitable  materials  at 
hand,"  —  referring  probably  to  the  litharge  which  was  a 
by-product  in  the  process  of  '  cupellation.  The  furnace, 
he  tells  us,  "  must  be  of  a  form  especially  adapted  to  the  pur- 
pose ;  the  fire  must  be  on  both  sides,  and  kept  up  with  wet 
wood  which  gives  a  great  smoke ;  the  smoke  and  the  flame 
must  come  in  direct  contact  with  the  litharge,  which  must 
be  constantly  stirred."  He  has  seen  it  stated,  he  says, 
that  common  salt  added  to  the  litharge  produces  a  very 

1  Von  Justi,  Vollstandige  Abhandlung  von  den  Manufactureii,  etc.,  p.  518. 

2  Savary,  Universal  Dictionary,  p.  4. 


356  LEAD   OXIDES. 

fine  color,  but  of  this  he  is  not  able  to  speak  from  experi- 
ence.1 This  statement  of  Von  Justi  of  the  methods  em- 
ployed in  the  manufacture  of  red  lead  is  quite  in  accordance 
with  modern  theory,  save  that  it  is  no  longer  considered 
necessary  to  employ  wood  as  the  fuel.  The  same  author, 
however,  some  years  later  modified  his  views,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  following  extract :  "  The  Dutch  have  a 
monopoly  of  the  trade  in  red  lead,  and  manufacture  it  by 
a  secret  process  which  they  guard  with  great  care,  not 
allowing  any  stranger  to  enter  their  factories.  They  make 
it  from  galena,  which  they  get  very  cheap  from  all  regions 
of  the  earth  where  their  ships  go,  which  bring  it  home  as 
ballast."  He  claims  to  have  experimented  with  litharge 
in  the  manufacture  of  red  lead  and  failed  to  get  any  color 
with  it,  but  succeeded  with  galena.  He  says  it  is  necessary 
to  use  poor  and  wet  wood  for  burning  it,  so  that  a  thick 
smoke  shall  pass  over  the  ore  for  a  considerable  time. 
"  Doubtless,"  he  says,  "  it  mixes  with  it ;  at  all  events  you 
cannot  get  the  color  without  the  smoke."  "  The  furnaces 
must  be  constructed  so  that  the  flame  shall  pass  over  the 
ore,  and  the  material  should  be  constantly  stirred."  At 
this  time,  according  to  this  author,  the  use  of  red  lead  was 
quite  universal  throughout  Europe,  where  it  was  used  to 
paint  wagons  and  wooden  utensils."  2 

Many  authors  of  this  period  mention  the  trade  in  lead 
oxides  in  England.  Macpherson  refers  to  the  shipment 
of  this  substance  from  Newcastle,  and  Pennant  says  that 
the  shipments  from  Chester  from  1758  to  1777,  as  taken 
from  the  books  of  the  custom  house  there,  show  an  export 
of  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty-seven  tons  of 
litharge.3  Watson  states  that  the  flint-glass  makers  in- 

1  Von  Justi,  Vollstandige  Abhandlung  von  den  Manufacturen,  etc.,  p.  518. 

2  Berghauptmann  Von  Justi,  Chemische  Schriften  (Berlin,  1771),  vol.  iii. 
p.  121. 

8  Pennant,  A  Tour  in  Wales,  vol.  i.  p.  203. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.      357 

formed  him  that  "  the  red  lead  made  from  litharge  did  not 
flux  so  well  as  that  made  direct  from  lead."  In  his  time 
(1780)  there  were  nine  red-lead  furnaces  in  Derbyshire. 
He  states  that  the  manufacture  of  red  lead  was  very  well 
understood  in  England  and  in  Holland,  but  that  the 
French  workmen  did  not  succeed  so  well,  and  thought  it 
could  not  be  made  by  the  flame  of  wood  fires.1 

The  manufacture  of  red  lead  and  litharge  is  now  estab- 
lished on  an  extensive  scale  in  England.  The  process  is 
conducted  in  furnaces  of  the  reverberatory  pattern,  —  the 
lead  being  converted  in  the  first  operation  into  litharge, 
which  is  ground  and  dried,  and  is  then  charged  into  a  fur- 
nace of  similar  construction,  where  it  is  heated  in  the  pres- 
ence of  atmospheric  air,  and  is  converted  into  red  lead. 
The  modern  method  used  in  the  manufacture  of  lead 
oxides  is  elaborately  treated  by  Percy  and  other  writers 
on  the  chemistry  and  technology  of  the  metals. 

The  manufacture  of  lead  oxides  in  the  United  States 
was  begun  as  early  as  the  first  decade  of  this  century  at 
Philadelphia.  Bishop  says  that  three  factories  for  the 
production  of  red  lead  existed  in  that  city  as  early  as  1810, 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  manufacture  of  lead  oxides  was 
begun  before  the  erection  of  works  for  making  white  lead. 
There  are  no  establishments  in  this  country  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  the  manufacture  of  lead  oxides,  but  makers  of 
white  lead  have  generally  added  to  their  plants  apparatus 
for  the  production  of  this  substance.  The  methods  com- 
monly employed  in  the  United  States  are  the  same  as  de- 
scribed by  Savary  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago.  In 
some  instances,  however,  the  reverberatory  furnace  has  been 
replaced  by  an  iron  bottle-shaped  cylinder,  called  a  retort, 
open  at  both  ends  and  made  to  revolve  slowly  by  means  of 
a  geared  wheel.  The  inside  of  these  cylinders  is  provided 
with  longitudinal  ribs,  which  serve,  as  the  cylinder  revolves, 

1  Watson,  Chemical  Essays,  vol.  iii.  pp.  339,  343. 


358  LEAD   OXIDES. 

to  keep  the  material  thoroughly  stirred.  The  retort  is 
charged  through  the  aperture  at  the  front.  The  rear  end 
is  connected  with  the  chimney  by  a  pipe,  and  a  constant 
circulation  of  air  is  thus  provided,  to  which  fresh  surfaces 
of  the  heated  metal  are  continually  exposed  by  the  stirring 
action  of  the  interior  ribs. 

Red  lead  is  manufactured  in  India  and  in  China,  where 
it  is  used  in  considerable  quantities  in  glass-making,  in 
painting,  and  in  the  decoration  of  pottery.  The  Hindus 
attach  great  importance  to  this  pigment,  believing  it 
to  possess  supernatural  attributes.  They  smear  it  upon 
their  idols,  paint  their  rupees  with  it  for  good  luck,  and 
rub  it  upon  a  stone  to  convert  it  into  a  dev,  or  object  of 
worship.1 

Authorities  differ  respecting  the  date  of  the  invention  of 
the  process  for  glazing  pottery  with  lead.  By  some  it  is 
said  to  have  been  introduced  into  Europe  in  the  fourteenth 
century  by  the  potters  of  Tuscany  and  Komagne,  who 
borrowed  it  from  the  Saracens  in  Spain ;  others  contend 
that  a  potter  of  Schelestadt  practised  the  art  as  early  as 
1283.  Kopp  says  that  earthenware  was  glazed  with  lead 
in  the  fourth  century;2  but  Faraday  in  1847  examined  the 
glazing  removed  from  a  vase  of  undoubted  Roman  manu- 
facture found  in  Surrey,  England,  and  pronounced  it  to 
consist  of  lead  carrying  a  small  amount  of  silver,  probably 
accidentally  present  in  the  lead.3  Schliemann  found  at 
Mycenae  objects  resembling  buttons,  which  proved  upon 
analysis  to  be  composed  of  "a  strongly  burned  clay  var- 
nished with  a  lead  glazing."  He  thought  they  had  been 
used  as  ornaments  for  the  house  doors  or  other  places.4  It 
has  been  stated  that  the  glazing  of  pottery  found  in  ancient 
Egyptian  tombs  is  composed  of  lead ;  and  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  the  glazing  of  bricks  and  other  articles 

1  Cyclopaedia  of  India,  article  Lead.        2  Kopp,  Geschichte  der  Chemie. 
8  Archeeologia,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  352.  4  Schliemann,  Mycenae,  pp.  76, 108. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE.  359 

found  at  Nineveh  and  Babylon  was  produced  in  some  cases 
by  the  use  of  litharge.  Maigne  states  that  the  art  was 
invented  in  the  East,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  known 
in  the  time  of  Solomon,1  and  the  researches  of  modern 
archaeologists  seem  to  confirm  this  suggestion.  Eraclius, 
whose  manuscript  is  attributed  to  the  ninth  or  tenth  cen- 
tury, describes  the  process  minutely,  and  gives  directions 
for  producing  a  variety  of  colors  and  tints  in  the  glaze.2 
The  use  of  lead  in  the  form  of  oxide  in  glazing  earthen- 
ware is  mentioned  by  many  writers  of  the  middle  ages, 
and  until  the  introduction  of  the  method  of  glazing  with 
common  salt,  which  dates,  according  to  Maigne,  to  1690,3it 
was,  with  the  exception  of  the  use  of  pure  galena,  —  called 
potters'  ore,  or  alquif oux,  —  the  only  method  practised. 

The  remarkable  property  of  litharge  of  forming  fusible 
compounds  with  nearly  all  the  metals  was  known  at  a 
very  remote  period,  and  the  early  metallurgists  took  ad- 
vantage of  this  peculiarity  in  their  methods  of  purifying 
the  noble  metals.  The  principles  discovered  and  employed 
by  them  are  in  use  to-day,  and  lead  oxide  is  an  invaluable 
substance  for  such  purposes.  The  second  source  of  lead 
referred  to  by  Pliny  is  the  reduction  of  litharge  to  me- 
tallic lead  by  treating  it  mixed  with  fuel,  in  a  furnace. 
Diodorus,  quoting  Agatharchides,  refers  to  the  purifying 
of  gold  by  mixing  with  it  lead,  barley  bran,  and  other  sub- 
stances, and  heating  it  in  a  furnace  ; 4  barley  bran  was 
doubtless  added  as  a  carbonaceous  material,  to  serve  as 
fuel,  as  was  frequently  the  custom  with  the  ancients. 
The  alchemists  likened  the  oxidation  of  metals  to  death, 
and  the  process  of  deoxidation  —  or  the  recovery  of  the 


1  Maigne,  Dictionnaire  Classique,  p.  334. 

2  De  Coloribus  et  Artibus  Romanorum,  Mrs.  Merrifield,  Original  Treatises, 
etc.,  vol.  i.  p.  206. 

3  Maigne,  Dictionnaire  Classique,  p.  335. 

4  Diodorus,  vol.  i.  p.  159. 


360  LEAD   OXIDES. 

metal  from  its  ores  or  from  a  compound  —  to  a  revival  of 
life  ;  hence  when  an  oxide  was  reduced  to  the  metallic  state 
the  metal  was  said  to  be  revived.  This  process  was  con- 
ducted in  a  furnace,  and  wheat  was  often  mixed  with  the 
oxide,  perhaps  to  serve  as  fuel,  as  charcoal  is  in  modern 
times.  The  combustion  resulted  in  dispelling  the  oxygen 
and  in  liberating  the  metal.  It  was  this  circumstance,  it 
is  said,  that  caused  wheat  to  be  regarded  as  the  symbol 
of  the  resurrection  and  of  eternal  life. 


INDEX. 


ABIT,  247. 

Abraham:  date,  3,  5;  wealth,  10;  chal- 
ice, 188. 

Abridgments  of  Specifications,  277,  280, 
284-287,  299,  353. 

Achilles,  armor,  133. 

Ackerman's  Article,  189. 

Across  America,  38,  68,  127. 

Adelaide,  silver,  61. 

Aderbijan,  16. 

Adige,  45. 

jJEgean  Sea :  ports,  4 ;  settlements,  5 ; 
lead-mines,  17.  (See  Greece.) 

.3Sschylus,  2. 

Africa :  ancient  nations,  4,  16,  31 ;  lead, 
55;  incursions,  20;  ancient  mines,  17, 
21;  ancient  trade,  22;  treasures,  42; 
Saracen  conquest,  40  ;  southern,  69  ; 
mountains,  70 ;  physicians,  237. 

Agatharchides,  8,  39,  41,  137;  age,  38; 
gold,  359. 

Agricola,  George  (Georgius) :  fire-setting, 
33,  34 ;  De  Re  Metallica,  34,  37,  88, 126, 
135,  138,  282;  pumps,  37;  ventilation, 
38;  Life,  41;  rank,  64;  furnaces,  125, 
126;  tin,  135;  manuscript,  222;  cham- 
ber, 282 ;  molybdena,  342. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  fairs,  245. 

Ajmeer,  mining,  34, 125. 

Ajunta,  caves,  199. 

Alabama,  prisoners,  42. 

Albany,  N.  Y.  (q.  v.),  320. 

Albertus  Magnus,  345. 

Alchemy:  lead,  3,  13,  14;  planets,  12; 
absurd,  14;  writers,  345.  (See  Gold.) 

Alcherius,  Jehan :  manuscript,  226,  227 ; 
recipes,  235. 

Aldegonde,  effigy,  176. 


Alden,  Consul-General,  reports,  273,  274. 

Alderton  Mines,  49. 

Alexandria,  conquest,  219. 

Algiers,  mining,  16.     (See  Africa,  Moors, 

Saracens.) 
Alleghany  Mountains:  lead,  80;  border- 

line,  323,  324. 

Allen,  Rev.  Thomas,  anecdote,  313. 
Allen,  V.  R.,  traditions,  91. 
Alliance,  Ohio,  333. 
Alloy,  13,  150,  154. 

Almeria :  mines,  20,  63  ;  cupellation,  138. 
Alps :   rock-splitting,  34  ;   mines,  51,  52 ; 

pathway,  245.     (See  /Switzerland.) 
Alquifoux,  for  glazing  (q.  v.),  65,  115,  359. 
Alston-Moor,  mining,  27,  57. 
Altai  District,  68. 
Alten  Zelle,  library,  222. 
Alube',  silver,  10. 
Alum,  74. 
America :  discovery,  53,  54,  61,  62 ;  lead- 

mining,  71-113  ;  Travels  in  Interior,  84, 

85,  90,  97,  121;   Narrative   and   Criti- 
cal History,  90;  lead  ores,  115.     (See 
United  States.) 

American  Company,  331. 

American  Indians  (7.  v.),  the  planetary 

names,  11. 

American  Journal  of  Archseology,  199. 
American  Journal  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 

78. 
American  Manufactures,  history,  72-80, 

86,  314-318. 

American  Revolution  :  era,  74-76 ;  lead, 

77 ;  white  lead,  313. 

American  State  Papers,  public  lands,  94. 
Amiens,  189.  * 

Amphorae:  broken,  155;  seals,  171. 
Amstel  River,  256. 
Amsterdam :    ore  from   New   York,   73 ; 


362 


INDEX. 


foundation,  259;  visited  by  Jars,  267, 
268;  consular  report,  270;  manufac- 
tures, 271 ;  process,  280 ;  methods,  804. 
(See  Dutch  and  Holland.) 

Amulets,  180-182.     (See  Seals,  Tokens.) 

Anchors,  first,  151.     (See  Iron.) 

Anchusa  Tinctoria,  214. 

Ancient  Company  of  Plumbers,  152.  ( See 
London.) 

Ancram  Mines,  73. 

Angiers,  bishop's  coffin,  189. 

Anglo-Saxons:  lead, 8;  coffins,  169;  cem- 
etery, 190;  methods,  225. 

Angouleme,  Count  de,  194. 

Animals,  leaden,  172,  183.     (See  Toys.) 

Anne,  Queen,  arms,  314. 

Antimony,  141,  351. 

Antiochus,  defeated,  149. 

Antiquities,  Rich's  Dictionary,  158,  165. 

Antlers,  relics,  31. 

Antonello  de  Messina,  259. 

Antoninus  Pius:  inscription,  29;  villa, 
158. 

Antonio's  Mission,  94. 

Antwerp:  Venetian  trade,  245,246;  gal- 
ley, 255,  256;  ruined,  256.  (See  Am- 
sterdam, Belgium,  Dutch,  Low  Countries, 
Netherlands.) 

Apaches :  subjugation,  111 ;  raids,  112. 
(See  American  and  Indians.) 

Aper9u  Historique,  23,  24,  51,  138.  (See 
Daubre'e.) 

Aphrodite,  image,  153. 

Apothecaries,  237,  238,  259,  260.  (See 
Drugs,  Medicine.) 

Aqueducts,  158-161.  (See  Lead  and 
Pipes.) 

Arabia :  ancient  traffic,  22. 

Arabic :  names  for  lead,  8, 16 ;  manuscript 
in  Escurial,  46;  names  for  white  lead, 
247;  minium,  349;  litharge,  351. 

Arabs :  minerals,  43 ;  Sardinia,  53 ;  cara- 
van, 181 ;  invasion,  217 ;  chemistry  and 
philosophy,  218;  metal  work,  230; 
sources  of  chemistry,  257 ;  in  Spain, 
259;  white  lead,  263.  (See  Saracens.) 

Arcadia,  91. 

Archaeologia :  ancient  Britons,  25;  lead, 
27,  29,  49;  mines,  30;  works,  48; 
leaves,  157;  bullets,  162,  163;  coffins, 
167;  image,  170;  seals,  171 ;  sepulchre, 
189;  inventory,  194;  Mappffi  Clavicula 
(q.  v.),  225,  228,  233,  235,  346,  358; 
white  lead,  233 ;  vase,  858. 

ArchaBological  Institute  of  America, 
154. 


Archaeological  Journal :  Ireland,  120, 166  ; 
British  Association,  29,  149,  161,  190. 

Archaeological  Society  of  England,  exhi- 
bition, 171. 

Archaeology :  northern,  190;  dictionary, 
247. 

Archaic  Weights  (q.  v.),  170. 

Archimedes:  inventions,  36;  engine,  164; 

Architecture:  Pollio,  155;  its  study  in 
Egypt,  196 ;  in  Middle  Ages,  239/240. 
domestic,  241.  (See  Houses,  Interior.) 

Archives  of  Discovery,  French,  296. 

Ardeche,  coinage,  50. 

Argent,  10.     (See  Coinage,  Silver.) 

Argentiola,  founded,  23. 

Argentum  Vivum,  344. 

Argos,  5. 

Argyritis,  340,  342. 

Aristotle:  discovery,  2;  dice,  150;  works, 
218. 

Arkansas  :  location,  88 ;  travels  in,  91. 

Arkansas  River :  gold-dust,  90 ;  mines,  93. 

Arkansaw  Tour,  103. 

Armenia,  mining,  16,     (See  Asia.) 

Armor:  ornaments,  156;  overlaid,  190. 

Armstrong,  General,  77. 

Arsenic :  with  lead,  115,  141 ;  salt  of,  339. 

Art,  History  of,  199. 

Ashford  Manor,  49. 

Asia:  lead,  16,  17;  North  and  Central, 
21 ;  trade,  22  ;  northern  mines,  42  ; 
Mohammedan  conquest,  44, 46 ;  mining, 
55,  67 ;  supply,  69 ;  mountains,  70 ;  tin, 
131 ;  ruins,  160 ;  Xenophon,  161 ;  Euro- 
pean trade,  245 ;  reopened,  255 ;  cerussa, 
339.  (See  separate  countries.) 

Asia  Minor:  Roman  mining,  42;  Doric 
shaft,  154;  pilgrims,  244. 

Aspen,  Colorado  (q.  v.),  108. 

Assos,  site,  154. 

Assyria,  Smith's  Discoveries,  198. 

Assyrians:  knowledge  of  metals,  3; 
golden  tribute,  15 ;  trade,  22 ;  little 
lead,  140;  dwellings,  197,  198,  200; 
pigments,  201 ;  glazing,  337. 

Astronomy:  Phoenicia,  3;  of  Ancients, 
26,  131. 

Asturias,  settled,  23. 

Athanatus,  leaden  harness,  151. 

Atharva  Veda  :  coins,  148 ;  evil  eye,  180. 

Athens:  balls,  162;  weights,  170;  seals, 
171;  colors,  200;  port,  339.  (See 
Greece.) 

Athos  Manuscript,  233,  258,  349. 

Atlantic  Islands,  130,  131,  134. 

Atlantic  White  Lead  Compnny,  327. 


INDEX. 


363 


Attica  :  scoriae,  124 ;  cerussa,  340 ;  spuma 
argenti,  342  ;  earthen  vessel,  343. 

Audemar  :  manuscript,  226  ;  color-mak- 
ing, 248 ;  date,  249 ;  salt,  252 ;  white 
lead,  258 ;  advice,  283 ;  anticipating 
modern  discovery,  285  ;  vermilion,  346; 
minium,  347.  (See  Saint  Petrus.) 

Aurichalum,  134. 

Austin,  Moses,  letter,  94. 

Austin's  Report,  93-97. 

Australian  Mines,  55,  60,  61. 

Austria  :  Roman  miners,  47  ;  miners  sent 
to  England,  55 ;  lower,  263,  301 ;  ex- 
tended manufactures,  311 ;  imports, 
312.  (See  Germany.) 

Austro-Hungary  (q.  v.) :  mining  yield, 
67 ;  white  lead,  301-313. 

Auvergne  :  mines,  51 ;  English  corpora- 
tion, 66. 

Aveyron,  23,  61. 

B. 

BABYLON  :  Gardens,  148;  dams,  147.  (See 
Assyria.) 

Babylonians :  knowledge  of  metals,  3 ; 
trade,  22  ;  glazing,  359. 

Bacchante,  bust,  170. 

Bacon  and  Hyde,  estate,  328. 

Bacon,  Roger,  13,  224. 

Bactriana,  silver,  16. 

Badashan  Mines,  17. 

Bagdad,  218.     (See  Arabia,  Saracens.) 

Bakewell  Manor,  48. 

Bald  Eagle  Valley,  75,  76. 

Ballard,  Christopher,  secret,  248. 

Ball,  Nicholas,  account,  187. 

Baltic  Countries,  trade,  22. 

Baltimore,  factory,  322. 

Baluchistan  Mountains,  16. 

Baluze  Collection,  221. 

Bancroft,  H.  H.,  Native  Races,  81,  111. 

Bandages,  170. 

Bapst,  Germain,  on  China,  1. 

Bapst's  L'Etain :  coinage,  149,  176 ;  vase, 
166, 195 ;  coffins,  167  ;  seals,  171 ;  toys, 
179  ;  medals,  180 ;  images,  181 ;  medi- 
cine, 189 ;  value  of  the  work,  195. 

Barba,  Alonzo,  Art  of  Metals,  13,  52,  351, 
352. 

Barcelona  :  mines,  20,  23  ;  litharge,  138. 

Bardi,  house  of,  246. 

Barley,  used  in  purification,  343,  358. 

Bartlett's  Patent,  289,  332. 

Base  Bullion,  141. 

Basle,  route,  215. 


Bassano  Library,  252, 

Battelle  and  Renwick,  327. 

Baudrimont's  Chemistry,  298. 

Baug  Caves,  199. 

Bavaria,  native  lead  carbonate,  115. 

Bayonne,  trade,  51.     (See  France.) 

Beads,  leaden,  190. 

Bean  River,  name,  82,  83. 

Bearnese  Mines,  51. 

Beauvais  Purchase,  98. 

Becket,  Thomas  A,  182. 

Beckmann's  History,  11,  128,  129,  131, 
132,  135,  136,  152,  191,  192,  213,  237, 
341,  342. 

Bede,  the  Venerable,  218,  219. 

Bedil,  tin,  132,  133. 

Bedsteads,  rare,  241. 

Beereferris  Mines,  50. 

Bejahs  Mines,  16. 

Bela  IV.,  edict,  48. 

Belgium:  lead  production,  66,  67,  312; 
coffins,  167;  white  lead,  255-275  passim; 
inferior,  272  ;  introduction,  274 ;  mines 
exhausted,  process,  275.  (See  Antwerp, 
Flanders,  Holland.) 

Bellows,  123-126,  138. 

Bells,  231 ;  handles,  150. 

Belmonte,  63. 

Beneventum,  relics,  165. 

Benson  Patent,  287. 

Berkeley,  John,  mission,  72. 

Berlin:  relics,  147;  figures,  166;  adul- 
teration, 303;  process,  304;  factories, 
311.  (See  Germany,  Prussia.) 

Beyert  Mines,  17. 

Bible:  metals,  10;  tin,  132,  133.  (See 
separate  books.) 

Bielin,  Adam,  319. 

Biot,  on  tin,  149. 

Birch,  Dr.,  on  lead,  157,  158,  170,  172. 

Birmingham,  191. 

Bishop:   History,  72-80,   86;    314,   315, 

318,  319;    anecdote,   313;    sale,   314; 
dates,   315 ;    imports,   318 ;    cinnabar, 

319,  321 ;  red  lead,  357. 
Bituriges,  tin,  136. 
Blacas,  relics,  166. 
Blacha,  white  lead,  247. 

Black  Lead :  Connecticut,  75 ;  sources, 
128;  Pliny,  129;  sixth  century,  134; 
with  silver,  135;  with  tin,  135,  136. 
(See  Graphite,  Plumbago.) 

Black  Paint,  201. 

Blast  Furnace,  127,  129,  140. 

Bleiberg  Mines,  67,  306. 

Blemmies,  16. 


364 


INDEX. 


Blow,  Henry  T.,  326,  331. 

Blow,  Peter  E.,  enterprise,  103,  104. 

Blowpipe,  167.     (See  Solder.} 

Blue  Lead,  285. 

Boeotia,  siege,  164. 

Boerhaave,  Hermann :  alchemy,  12,  13 ; 
white  lead,  209,  302;  Venetian  white, 
262;  process,  304.  (See  Chemistry.} 

Bohemia :  settlers,  47 ;  relations  to  Eng- 
land, 55;  rank,  67.  (See  Austria,  Ger- 
many, Hungary.} 

Bohn  Editions,  2. 

Boles,  120. 

Bolivian  Mines,  113. 

Bologna,  Alcherius  (q.  v.},  226. 

Bolognese  Manuscript,  250,  351. 

Bonne  Terre,  101,  102. 

Booth,  G.,  translation,  18. 

Bordeaux,  trade,  51. 

Bordure,  painted,  242.     (See  Interior.} 

Boston :  siege,  77 ;  first  church,  313 ;  col- 
ors for  sale,  314 ;  white  lead  made,  324; 
Norfolk  Company,  327.  (See  Massa- 
chusetts.} 

Bouillon,  Godfrey,  shells,  181. 

Bourrasse's  Dictionary,  247. 

Bowl,  leaden,  166. 

Boyd,  Colonel,  73. 

Boyne,  on  tokens,  187,  188. 

Bracelets,  leaden,  166. 

Brackenridge,  H.  M.,  Views,  90,  97,  102. 

Bradbury,  John  :  on  Dubuque,  84,  85,  90, 
97 ;  smelting,  121. 

Braddock's  Defeat,  96. 

Bradley  Company,  331. 

Brass :  fable,  2 ;  in  Bible,  10, 32, 123, 137  ; 
called  simple,  12;  Germany,  55;  small 
coins,  187,  188 ;  green,  248 ;  with  lead, 
283. 

Breslau  Factories,  311. 

Bretagne,  mining,  65. 

Brewer,  J.  S ,  edition  of  Bacon,  13. 

Bricks,  ancient,  358. 

Bridges,  built  by  monks,  220. 

Brierly,  John,  patent,  285. 

Briot,  Francis,  engraving,  194. 

Bristol :  ore,  73  ;  tokens,  187 ;  mills,  290, 
291. 

Britain:  trade,  22;  voyage,  25;  Phoeni- 
cians, 131.  (See  England,  Great.) 

Britannicus,  inscription,  29. 

British,  Archaeological  (q.  v.)  Association, 
149,  161,  190. 

British  Isles,  first  church,  239. 

British  Mining,  23,  27,  29,  33,  34,  41,  50, 
66,  59,  60,  122,  168,  193,  353. 


British  Museum  :  wheels,  153 ;  tablets, 
157;  bullets,  163;  figures,  165;  band- 
ages, 170  ;  coins,  175 ;  manuscripts,  190, 
219, 222, 223, 229 ;  poticaries,  237  ;  names 
for  white  lead,  247  ;  Limming,  261. 

Broadhead,  G.  C.,  Geological  Report,  105. 

Broken  Hill,  silver,  61,  115. 

Bronze :  Egypt,  22,  31 ;  barter,  25 ;  Eng- 
land and  Continent,  26;  tools,  31,  32, 
36;  Mexico,  110;  Peru,  113;  vessels, 
131 ;  statuary,  136 ;  coinage,  148,  176  ; 
implements,  150;  wheel,  153;  pegs, 
154;  Swiss,  156;  weights,  170;  church- 
objects,  189 ;  inlaid,  burial-mounds,  190. 

Brooches,  ancient,  47. 

Brooke,  Lord,  commission,  74. 

Brookfield,  Conn.,  78. 

Brooklyn  Company,  328. 

Brooklyn  Manufacturers,  320-324,  331. 

Brown,  Francis,  331. 

Brundisium,  mirror,  191. 

Brunswick,  Duke  of,  222. 

Brussels  Library,  252. 

Bryant's  Homer,  6,  151. 

Buchan,  Earl  of,  49. 

Bucharia,  16. 

Buckets  :  curious,  28;  hide,  111. 

Bucking-iron,  100. 

Buckles,  188. 

Buda  Pesth,  165. 

Buffalo  :  establishments,  327,  328 ;  canal, 
suspension,  329;  new  works,  330;  organ- 
ization, 331. 

Bullets  :  traffic,  72 ;  Colorado,  107 ;  how 
made,  117 ;  Greek,  162 ;  slings  (q.  v.), 
161-164 ;  Cambridge,  188. 

Burgundian  Conquest,  43,  44. 

Burmah,  16. 

Burns,  J.  H.,  Catalogue,  172,  188. 

Burton  (Breton),  Francis,  96,  98. 

Bushell,  Thomas  :  petition,  41 ;  mint,  56. 

Buttons  :  glass,  191 ;  found,  358. 

Byron,  quoted,  216. 

Byzantine  Empire :  mines,  43 ;  seals, 
172. 

Byzantine  Manuscript,  221,  233,  234. 


C. 


CADILLAC,  LAMOTHE  (q.  v.)  DE,  89. 
Cadiz,  settled,  4.     (See  Gades.) 
Cadmus,  2. 

Cahokia  :  post,  92 ;  French  village,  83. 
Caius  Cestius,  monument,  345. 
Calabritis,  342. 


INDEX. 


365 


Calais,  inventory,  163. 

Calcium  Sulphate,  168. 

Callias's  Discovery,  337. 

Calx  of  Lead,  283,  293. 

Cambridge  Library,  222,  224,  229. 

Cambridge,  Mass. :  organ-pipes,  77;  coins, 

188. 

Camden,  William,  quoted,  28,  120. 
Cam  den  Works,  333. 
Campania,  seaport,  341,  342. 
Campbell,  R.  C.,  report,  112. 
Canaan,  Conn.,  78. 
Canaanites,  conquered,  199. 
Canada :  lead,  80 ;  agents,  82 ;  Jesuits,  88 ; 

La  Motte,  Old  Regime,  89. 
Cannon-balls,  leaden,  163.     (See  Bullets.) 
Cantabrian  Provinces,  63,  134. 
Canton,  China,  69.     . 
Captives :  in  mines,  39,  41 ;  metallurgy, 

116. 

Caravans,  24. 

Carbon  Dioxide,  204,  209-214,  249,  258, 
283,  285, 288, 291,  294-297, 303-309, 318, 
328,  329,  336,  355. 
Cardiganshire  :    smelters,   56 ;   lead,  57  ; 

mills,  353. 
Carinthia  :  pure  lead,  67  ;  white  lead,  213, 

248;  establishment,  305. 
Carondelet  Grant,  84,  85. 
Cartagena :  mines,   20,  23 ;    native   lead 

carbonate,  115  ;  pigs,  138. 
Carteia,  settled,  20. 
Carthage  :  history,  4 ;  fall,  22. 
Carthaginians  :  in  Sardinia,  19 ;  freeboot- 
ers, 20  ;  slave  labor,  40 ;  old  mine,  62  ; 
slag,  123 ;  slings,  161. 
Carver's  Journey,  83. 
Casks,  155. 

Cassiterides  :  tin,  7  ;  inhabitants,  25 ;  loca- 
tion and  history,  130-132. 
Cassiteros,  129,  132, 133,  135. 
Castellon  Mines,  20-23. 
Castles,  how  built,  240, 241.    ( See  Houses.) 
Castleton,  old  mine,  48. 
Caswell,  E.  A.,  quoted,  87,  105. 
Catalogue  of  Traders'  tokens,  172,  188. 
Cato,  quoted,  154. 
Caucasus  :  mines,  7  ;  deposits,  68. 
Cellini's  Treatise,  194. 
Celtic  Britain,  24,  26,  131. 
Celts,  31. 

Cennini,    Cennino :    treatise,    223,    237; 
colors,  249,  250;  vermilion,  346;  mini- 
um, 348;  yellow,  350,  351. 
Cephalonia,  balls,  162. 
Ceruse  :  ancient  times,  203-216  ;  Theoph- 


ilus,  232,  232  ;  names,  247 ;  allusion, 
250;  Holland,  262;  Relation  of  the 
Making,  265;  adulteration,  277  ;  costly, 
278.  (See  White  Lead.) 

Cerussa,  205,  206. 

Cerussa  Usta,  339-344  passim,  349,  354. 

Cerussite,  115. 

Cesnola,  A.  P.  di,  158. 

Cesnola  Collection,  166.     (See  Lawrence. ) 

Chain-pumps,  37. 

Chairs,  rare,  241.     (See  Furniture.) 

Chaldea :  mines,  16  ;  trade,  22. 

Chaldeans,  metallurgy,  116. 

Chalices,  188,  189,  193. 

Chalk :  cups,  31 ;  used  for  adulteration, 
267,283,  294,295;  with  carbonic  acid, 
275 ;  with  lead,  293. 

Chalybeans,  silver,  16. 

Chamber  Process,  280,  289,  305-311,  324. 

Chambers's  Cyclopaedia,  white  lead,  245. 

Champagne  District :  lead,  183 ;  fairs, 
245. 

Charcoal,  123,  124. 

Chariots  :  British,  25,  26 ;  wheels,  153. 

Charlemagne  :  coinage,  50  ;  mining,  52 ; 
title,  157  ;  monopoly,  220 ;  fairs,  245. 

Charles  I. :  petition,  41 ;  army,  56. 

Charles  IV.,  edict,  48. 

Charles  of  Navarre,  52. 

Charless  Enterprise,  326. 

Charlestown,  Mass.,  313. 

Charlevoix's  Voyages  :  Indians,  91,  92 ; 
report,  94,  95. 

Charms,  179-182.     (See  Medals,  Tokens.) 

Chartres  Fort,  93,  95. 

Cheapside,  pipe,  190. 

Chemistry:  Kopp's  (q.  v.)  History,  6,  133, 
191,  358 ;  Boerhaave's  (q.  v.)  Elements, 
12,  13,  262,  302;  connection  with  al- 
chemy, 14  ;  Gmelin's  (q.  v.)  Handbook, 
205, 208,  210, 336  ;  Applied  to  Art,  266 ; 
Watson's  (q.  v.)  Essays,  58,  124,  282, 
283,357;  Beaudrimont's  (q.v.)  Treatise, 
298 ;  colors,  301 ;  Von  Justi  quoted, 
356. 

Chemnitz,  47. 

Chequer  Yard,  site,  185. 

Chester  County,  80. 

Chester  :  trade,  58 ;  mills,  291 ;  red  lead, 
356. 

Chicago,  331. 

hickasaws,  95.     (See  Indians.) 
hihuahua,  111,  112. 
hild,  Sir  Josiah,  57. 
hili,  mountains,  113. 
himneys  :  first,  240;  Watson's,  282,  283. 


366 


INDEX. 


China  :  planets,  11 ;  silver,  16 ;  northern, 
17  ;  modern  mining,  68 ;  debased  coin- 
age, 148,  149;  red  lead,  358. 

Chirography  of  Middle  Ages,  285. 

Chisels,  found,  31.     (See  Tools.) 

Chloride  of  Lead  (q.  v.},  288. 

Chlorides,  known  to  Romans,  7. 

Christian  Art,  230. 

Christian  Iconography  (q.  v.),  234. 

Christians,  tortured,  164,  165. 

Chronicles,  quoted,  161. 

Chrysitis,  340,  342. 

Chudleigh,  187. 

Chymistry,  Body  of,  14,  278. 

Cicinium  Oil,  233. 

Cilicia:  molybdena,  341 ;  cupellation,341. 

Cimabue,  rank,  224. 

Cincinnati,  white  lead,  319,  321,  324-327, 
331. 

Cinnabar :  pigment,  6;  lease  of  mines,  62 ; 
East,  202  ;  Theophrastus,  337  ;  bodies 
painted,  338;  Pliny,  340,  344;  wrong 
term,  ancient  references,  345;  con- 
founded, 346,  349;  cosmetic,  347. 

Cistercian  Monks,  220. 

Civil  War:  outbreak,  104;  close,  330. 
(See  Southern  Rebellion.) 

Clamps,  154-156. 

Clark,  Col.  Edward,  325. 

Clark,  Joseph  Thatcher,  archaeology, 
155. 

Clark's  Patent,  318,  319. 

Claudius,  Emperor,  29. 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  331. 

Clichy,  295,  296,  299. 

Clinton,  Governor,  73. 

Coahuila,  112. 

Coal :  pumps,  37  ;  and  lead,  126. 

Coal  Mines,  41,  42. 

Cobalt,  101,  114. 

Cochet,  Abbe  :  opinion,  23 ;  lead  traffic, 
24 ;  finds,  189  ;  pewter,  193. 

Cosnwef,  King,  171. 

Coffee-houses,  188. 

Coffins,  26,  48,  165-169,  188;  curses  in, 
158. 

Cogoleto,  273. 

Coinage:  French,  50;  leaden,  148-150, 
175,  176. 

Coins :  antique  French  and  Roman,  23, 
27,  28 ;  in  coffins,  169. 

Colchis,  337. 

Colgate,  Robert,  327. 

Collegia,  177,  178. 

Collier  Company,  326-328. 

Cologne,  245. 


Colorado  :  output,  86  ;  opened,  106 ;  pro- 
duct, 107;  ore,  112;  discovery  of  lead, 
115. 

Colors  :  Egypt,  197,  198,  201,  202;  sculp- 
ture, 199,  200 ;  Assyria,  201,  202;  The- 
ophilus,  231-234 ;  chemistry,  263  ;  Erac- 
lius,  345,  346,  359 ;  secrets,  348. 

Columbia  County  Mines,  73. 

Columbus,  53. 

Columns,  painted,  242,  243.    (See  Houses.) 

Combe  Martin,  50. 

Commerce :  destroyed  in  Middle  Ages, 
45;  Macpherson's  (q.  v.)  Annals,  48,  49, 
53-55,  175,  220,  239,  240,  244,  245,  256  ; 
France  (see  Pigeonneau) ,  52,  171,  178, 
220,  244,  254;  extensive  in  ancient 
times,  146 ;  monks,  220  ;  stone  church, 
240 ;  Oriental,  244 ;  Heyde's  (q.  v.)  His- 
tory, 246;  Italian,  254. 

Commern,  Germany,  127. 

Committee  of  Public  Safety,  76.  (See 
Continental.) 

Compagnie  des  Indes,  93. 

Company  of  the  West,  92,  93. 

Conduits,  158-161.     (See  Pipes.) 

Congress  of  the  United  States  :  reserva- 
tions, 85 ;  petition  for  protection,  318 ; 
sale  of  mineral  lands,  322. 

Conkling,  Richard:  enterprise,  321,  326, 
327 ;  sale,  330. 

Connecticut :  fort,  74 ;  grant,  75 ;  out- 
break of  war,  76  ;  later,  78;  works,  333. 
(See  Winthrop.) 

Conscription,  for  mines,  40,  41.  (See 
Impressment,  Slaves,  Soldiers.) 

Constantinople :  desilverization,  67 ;  trade, 
243 ;  capture,  244. 

Consular  Reports,  63,  69,  112,  125,  270- 
275,  299,  300,  312. 

Continental  Army,  77,  314. 

Continental  Congress :  supplies,  76,  77 ; 
encouraging  Art,  314. 

Convicts,  in  mines,  41,  42.  (See  Crimi- 
nals, Prisoners.) 

Copper :  early  known,  6 ;  found  pure,  7  ; 
Egyptian  implements,  31 ;  Linares,  47  ; 
Indians,  81;  with  lead,  114,  115,  143, 
144;  earliest  writers,  116;  furnace,  118 ; 
combination,  130;  with  tin,  130,  135; 
differing,  132;  vessels,  white  copper, 
135 ;  crusts,  145 ;  Troad,  152 ;  impurity, 
156;  conduits,  160;  soldering,  161; 
bust,  170;  tokens,  176;  ecclesiastical 
articles,  189 ;  scales,  190 ;  mirrors,  190, 
191 ;  pewter,  193 ;  rust,  212 ;  ornaments, 
230 ;  green,  248 ;  paint  and  plates,  231, 


INDEX. 


367 


232,  251,  252;  in  white-lead  process, 
2»3  ;  kettles,  303, 347 ;  strips,  347  ;  work 
on  Smelting,  353. 

Copper-mining:  Spain,  4;  China  and  Peru, 
11;  Assyria,  15;  Cyprus,  22;  Great 
Britain,  51 ;  Germany,  55 ;  New  Eng- 
land, 74,  75;  Crown  reserve,  72;  Lake 
Region,  81 ;  Upper  Mississippi,  82,  83 ; 
Mexico,  110. 

Copyists,  219. 

Corycus,  343. 

Cordillera,  113. 

Cordova :  mines,  62 ;  schools,  218. 

Corea,  69. 

Coregliano,  273. 

Corinth,  white  lead,  214. 

Corn,  stored,  25. 

Cornell :  factory,  320,  321 ;  company,  331. 

Cornwall :  old  inhabitant,  25 ;  tin,  28, 131 ; 
revival,  50 ;  ancient  and  modern  yield, 
58,  59 ;  early  smelting,  120,  126 ;  coast, 
130. 

Cortez,  discoveries,  61. 

Cosmetics,  147,  214-216,  294. 

Cotton,  Sir  Robert,  187. 

Counterfeits,  175,  176.     (See  Coins.) 

Court  of  Assistants,  London,  74. 

Coxe,  Tench,  quoted,  316. 

Crank-shaft,  138. 

Creach  Works,  120. 

Creech's  Translation,  2. 

Creed,  Sir  James,  patent,  279,  280,  289, 
308. 

Cremation,  167. 

Creole  Workmen,  97. 

Crete,  debased  coin,  149. 

Criminals,  in  mines,  39-42.  (See  Cap- 
tives, Prisoners.) 

Cross,  metallic,  189. 

Croyland  Abbey,  48. 

Crozat,  Anthony  :  grant,  88  ;  report,  90 ; 
scheme,  92. 

Crusades :  tokens,  181,  182 ;  influence, 
224  ;  begun,  243,  244. 

Crystallization,  141,  143. 

Cuencame  District,  112. 

Cumberland,  27  ;  mountains,  80. 

Cupellation,  9,  13,  114,  129,  136-138,  141, 
341. 

Cups,  31. 

Curachee,  139. 

Curtis,  J.  S.  105,  106. 

Custom-house  Seals,  166,  171. 

Cymbals,  231. 

Cyprus :  lead  and  foundries,  17 ;  copper 
trade,  22;  metallurgy,  137. 


D. 


DAHLGREN,  CHARLES  B.,  Ill,  112. 

Dall,  W.  H.,  81. 

Damastium  Mines,  18. 

Dampfloogen  process,  308. 

Danes,  in  England,  48. 

Danish,  name  for  lead,  8. 

Dante,  rank,  224. 

Danube  Valley,  pilgrims,  244. 

D'Anvers,  N.,  translation,  81. 

Daubree,  on  Mines,  23,  24,  35,36,  51, 137, 
138. 

Dauphine,  ore,  51. 

Davidson  County,  79. 

Davy,  Dr.  John,  202. 

Davy's  Works,  202,  339,  345. 

Dawkins,  on  Mines,  26,  30,  31. 

Decius  Brutus,  157. 

De  Goguet's  Origin  of  Laws,  2,  5, 11, 118. 

Delaunay  Method,  299. 

Delaware  River,  settlements,  75. 

De  Lochon,  Sieur,  arrival,  94. 

Denarius,  found  in  England,  149. 

Denis,  Saint,  182. 

Denmark  :  mounds,  190  ;  imports,  312. 

Deoxidation,  359,  360.     (See  Oxidation.) 

De  Prusse,  Chaillot,  294,  295. 

Derbyshire  :  waste,  27  ;  impressment,  41, 
49;  name,  49;  value  of  lead,  57,  58; 
smelting,  120;  old  methods,  282;  red 
lead,  357. 

De  Re  Metallica,  34,  37,  38,  126,  135, 138. 
(See  Agricola.) 

De  Rostaing,  ingenuity,  298,  299. 

Desloge,  Firmin  :  organization,  100 ;  mine, 
102. 

Des  Moines,  location,  82. 

Desor,  E.,  quoted,  156. 

De  Soto,  90,  91. 

Detroit,  founded,  89. 

Devon:  old  men,  25;  tin,  28;  impress- 
ment, 41 ;  productiveness,  49, 50;  grant, 
126 ;  early  works,  130 ;  tin,  131 ;  ac- 
count kept,  187. 

Diana  :  temple,  149 ;  signs,  165 ;  tokens, 
182. 

Dice,  loaded,  150. 

Dickson,  W.  P.,  translation,  40. 

Didron:  manuscript,  233;   manual,  349. 

Diez  Church,  51. 

Diodorus  Siculus,  4,  18 ;  citations,  20,  25, 
26,  32,  36,  37,  40,  131,  148,  151,  199, 
359. 

Dionysius  the  Monk,  233,  234. 

Dioscorides :    quicksilver,  6 ;    medicine, 


368 


INDEX. 


174,  207,  209,  214,  254;  white  lead, 
206-208,  214,  227 ;  process  described, 
281  ;  spuma  argenti,  341,  342  ;  litharge, 
343,  344  ;  minium,  349 ;  yellow,  351. 
(See  Matthioli.) 

Diversarum  Artium,  138,  224,  225,  230, 
243,  267.  (See  Theophilus.) 

Dodona  Temple,  158. 

Doe  Run,  Mo.,  102. 

Domesday  Book,  48,  49. 

Domitian,  Emperor,  29. 

Doric  Shaft,  found,  154. 

Dortrecht,  271. 

Dresden  Factories,  311,  312. 

Druggs,  Compleat  History,  24,  25,  262, 
293,  254. 

Drugs:  Venetian  and  Eastern,  45;  mo- 
nopoly, 271. 

Dry  Bone,  123. 

Dubuque,  Julian  :  career,  83,  84 ;  grant, 
85. 

Dundonald,  Earl  of,  283. 

Dung:  general  use,  113,  125,  209,  214, 
227,  231,  232,  248,  257,  258,  268,  270, 
283 ;  stallion,  304. 

Du  Pratz's  History,  90-93. 

Durand,  Paul,  234. 

Durango,  Mexico,  111,  112. 

Diiren,  native  lead  carbonate,  115. 

Diirer,  Albert,  pewter  plates,  194. 

Dussauce,  H.,  vinegar,  212. 

Dutch :  use  of  lead,  8 ;  trade,  271,  354 ; 
revival,  272  ;  enterprise,  274,  296  ;  adul- 
terations, 303 ;  aggression,  352  ;  mo- 
nopoly, 356. 

Dutchess  County,  74,  76. 

Dutch  Process:  general  use,  203,  305; 
history  and  explanations,  255-266  ;  im- 
pure lead,  263,  272  ;  described  by  Jars, 
267-270,  292  ;  in  Italy,  273;  in  Belgium, 
275  ;  modified,  280 ;  in  England,  282- 
284, 291 ;  stable-litter,  283  ;  better  than 
English,  284 ;  irrational,  287 ;  excel- 
lence, 288 ;  substitutes,  290  ;  best,  290, 
291 ;  Pomet's  account,  292,  293 ;  Sava- 
ry's,  293, 294 ;  opacity,  295;  MerimeVs 
account,  297,  298  ;  in  France,  299  ;  in 
Germany,  305  ;  modified,  306, 308, 332  ; 
conditions,  307  ;  uniform  results,  310  ; 
in  United  States,  310,  317,  318 ;  debase- 
ment, 311 ;  original,  312  ;  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, 316,  319,  320  ;  in  Massachusetts, 
321 ;  expense,  322 ;  in  St.  Louis,  327, 
328;  improvements,  333.  (See  Ger- 
many, Holland.) 

Dyes,  45. 


E. 


EACLIS'S  DISCOVERY,  2. 

Eadburga,  Abbess,  48. 

Eagle  Works,  327,  330,  331. 

Early  Man  in  Britain,  26,  31. 

Earth,  and  planetary  signs,  11. 

Earthenware :  trade,  25 ;  vessels,  154  ; 
pipes,  160 ;  fragility,  303. 

East  Deereham,  font,  184. 

Eastern  States  :  small  product,  322 ;  mar- 
ket, 323;  competition,  324. 

East  India  Company,  order,  56.  (See 
Indies.) 

East :  knowledge  of  metals,  3 ;  colony  for 
Greece,  5;  lead,  8.  (See  Orient.) 

Eastlake,  C.  L.:  decorations,  221 ;  oil,  226; 
medicine,  235;  monks,  236;  churches, 
237;  other  buildings,  243;  Audemar, 
249;  white  lead,  253,  254;  Eyck,  259; 
royal  orders,  260. 

Eating,  early  customs,  192.  (See  Spoons.) 

Eaton  Mines,  78. 

Eckstein,  Consul,  reports,  270,  271. 

Eckstein  Works,  331. 

Edinburgh  Castle,  163. 

Edmonds,  C.,  translation,  161. 

Edward  the  Black  Prince  :  revenues,  50 ; 
coffin,  169. 

Edward  the  Confessor,  three  manors,  48. 

Edward  I.  :  grants,  49  ;  accounts,  260. 

Edward  II.,  mining,  49. 

Edward  III. :  mining,  49,  50  ;  item,  163  ; 
craftsmen,  184 ;  fraternity,  185 ;  buckles, 
188 ;  chapel,  243. 

Edward  IV. :  charter,  185 ;  act,  193. 

Edwin,  King,  church,  239. 

Egypt :  lead,  8  ;  gold  and  silver,  9  ;  met- 
als, 15,  16 ;  ancient,  31 ;  mining,  32, 
123,  131,  146,  197;  imports,  53,  115; 
tin,  131 ;  little  lead,  146 ;  relics,  147 ; 
pipes,  160;  wood  rare,  197  ;  colors,  198  ; 
paint,  200;  decorations,  161;  tombs, 
358.  (See  Heeren,  Wilkinson.) 

Egyptians  :  monuments,  1, 3, 10, 196, 197  ; 
colonies,  5  ;  astronomy,  10,  11 ;  sacred 
number,  12  ;  precious  metals,  21 ;  trade, 
22  ;  pumps,  36 ;  torches,  38  ;  slaves,  39  ; 
captives,  41 ;  relations  to  Venice,  44,  45 ; 
alquifoux,  115 ;  furnaces,  123 ;  metal- 
lurgy, 116;  divinities,  149;  bronzes, 
150 ;  sculpture,  153  ;  slingers,  161 ; 
medals,  174;  charms,  180;  art-study, 
196-200;  pigment,  201,  202;  oil,  233; 
paint  and  glazing,  337. 

Eidub,  16. 


INDEX. 


369 


Eisenach  Factories,  308,  311. 

Eland,  Christopher,  patent,  276,  352,  353. 

Elba,  relics,  32. 

Electricity,  with  lead,  289. 

Electrum,  148,  152 ;  inlaid,  190. 

Elixir  of  Life,  14. 

Elizabeth,  Queen:  political  liberty,  55, 
56;  German  miners,  64;  incorpora- 
tions, 186  ;  policy,  276. 

Ellesmere,  Earl  of,  quoted,  190. 

Enamel,  230. 

Encelius,  13. 

England  :  relics,  26,  32 ;  pigs  of  lead,  29, 
353  ;  northern  part,  33 ;  Danes,  48 ; 
mining  revival,  55;  suspension,  62; 
Norman  Conquest,  118  ;  denarius  found, 
149;  urns,  167;  weights,  170;  seals, 
171 ;  Close  Rolls,  241 ;  white  lead,  251, 
254,  260,  261 ;  impure  white  lead,  263  ; 
lead  monopoly,  267 ;  raw  material  ex- 
ported, 271 ;  cheaper  goods,  274  ;  first 
patent,  279,  280 ;  four  modes  of  mak- 
ing white  lead,  281 ;  substitutes,  281, 
290  ;  recent  methods,  282,  287  ;  inferi- 
ority, 284,  293 ;  Dutch  methods,  291 ; 
supplies  from  France,  294 ;  adultera- 
tions, 303,  304,  322  ;  Creed  patent,  308  ; 
importations,  312;  colonial  exports, 
314 ;  usual  process,  321 ;  red  lead,  353, 
355, 357 ;  litharge,  352,  357 ;  vase  found, 
358.  (See  Cornwall,  Devon,  Great  Brit- 
ain.) 

English  Families,  bearings,  181. 

English  Language,  tin,  132. 

English  People :  early  trade,  53 ;  lead 
from  Greece,  67  ;  mining  in  Spain,  63 ; 
metallurgy, 102 ;  furnaces,  118, 125-127  ; 
processes,  142  ;  coins,  175, 176, 186, 187; 
tokens,  179,  180;  favorite  saint,  182; 
craftsmen,  184;  ignorance  of  reading, 
186;  shop-signs,  gasfitters,  187;  dress, 
188;  coffins,  188,189;  table  furniture, 
192;  pewter,  193;  white  lead,  203;  drug- 
gists, 237  ;  houses,  239-242 ;  twelfth  to 
seventeenth  centuries,  243  ;  enterprise, 
271 ;  competition,  299  ;  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, 302  ;  ire  toward  Americans,  315; 
rivalry,  316,  318  ;  inferior  productions, 
319;  experimenters,  332;  applications 
for  patents,  333  ;  monopolies,  353. 

Ephesus:  signs,  165;  tokens,  182;  min- 
ium, 337,  345. 

Epirus  Mines,  18. 

Eraclius  :  colors,  191,  192,  227,  228,  230, 
345,  346,  359 ;  glass,  191, 192 ;  era,  224, 
249;  denounced,  225 ;  manuscript,  226  ; 


topics,  227 ;  panels,  228 ;  surface,  229 ; 
green,  232 ;  mixing  colors,  234 ;  white 
lead,  234,  237,  254,  258;  Greek,  257; 
flame-color,  345  ;  red,  346 ;  glazing,  359. 

Erasmus,  quoted,  176. 

Escalop,  169,  181. 

Escurial  Manuscripts,  46. 

Essex  Painters,  243. 

Etain,  133.     (See  Bapst,  Tin.) 

Ethiopia  :  minerals,  15  ;  trade,  22,  53. 

Etruria :  enterprise,  52 ;  civilization,  199. 

Euphrates  River,  147.     (See  Babylon.) 

Eureka:  deposits,  105,  106;  town,  112. 

Europe  :  ancient  mines,  21 ;  Saracens,  44, 
46  ;  lead-mining,  55-70  ;  product,  58  ; 
lead  ore,  115;  museums,  146;  beds  of 
streams,  153;  disturbed,  175;  vinegar, 
211;  small  progress,  218;  southern 
part,  225,  235,  257;  social  condition, 
239,  243;  northern,  246,  272;  white 
lead,  254;  painting,  260;  white  lead 
from  Italy  only,  261 ;  adulteration,  274; 
red  lead,  356;  glazing,  358.  (See  sepa- 
rate countries.) 

Evans  Patent,  318. 

Evelyn,  quoted,  187. 

Evil  Eye,  180,  181. 

Evreux  Mines,  23. 

Exhalations,  38. 

Eyesalve,  166. 

Ezekiel,  quoted,  22,  123,  124,  134,  137, 
199. 


F. 


FAHNESTOCK,  B.  A.,  327,  331. 

Fairfax,  Sir  William,  194. 

Fairs,  245. 

Falling  Creek,  massacre,  72. 

Faraday,  Michael,  358. 

Farthings,  187,  188. 

Ferran,  Stephen,  260. 

Ferrara,  choral- books,  221. 

Fever  River,  name,  83. 

Fincastle,  Va.,  77,  79. 

Fine  Arts,  Eastlake,  259. 

Fire,  Chinese  element,  11. 

Fire-setting,  33,  34,  53. 

Flake  White,  269,  277,  297,  319,  335,  341. 

Flanders :  manufactures,  245,  254 ;  Ital- 
ian artists,  259,  260 ;  yellow,  350,  351 ; 
glazing,  358.  (See  Belgium,  Holland.) 

Flavus  Color,  349. 

Flemings  :  trade,  245,  246,  255,  256,  259 ; 
painters,  259,  260. 

Fletcher,  Consul,  quoted,  274. 


24 


370 


INDEX. 


Flint :  mines,  28 ;  grant,  49 ;  amulet,  180. 

Flintshire,  61. 

Flintstone,  30. 

Florence:  engraving,  194 ;  choral-book, 
221;  trade,  244.  (See  Italy.) 

Florentine  Painters,  260. 

Florida,  Historic  Collection,  82. 

Fluorspar,  87,  88. 

Forest  River  Company,  321,  327. 

Forgeais,  Arthur,  quoted,  177-184. 

Fortunate,  Fra  :  recipe,  253 ;  vinegar,  304. 

Fossil  Man  in  Europe,  156. 

Foster,  J.  W.,  quoted,  80,  81. 

Foulk,  George  C.,  report,  69. 

Foundries,  231. 

Fox  Indians  (q.  v.),  83,  85,  121,  322. 

France :  lead,  8 ;  Roman  conquest,  23, 
24 ;  coast,  25 ;  relics,  26,  32,  183  ;  mines 
abandoned,  50,  52 ;  ancient  shafts,  35, 
36;  German  workmen,  64;  desilver- 
izing, 66;  lead  from  Greece,  66,  67; 
mining-camps,  138 ;  smelting-process, 
142 ;  coffins,  167  ;  money,  176 ;  tokens, 
179,  180  ;  scutcheon,  183 ;  alloy,  190 ; 
pewter,  193,  194 ;  monkish  privileges, 
219,  220  ;  Alcherius,  226  ;  glass,  230 ; 
Italians,  245  ;  white  lead,  247,  254,  263, 
292-300;  Audemar.  248;  fairs, '256; 
small  lead  deposits,  292  ;  supplies,  294 ; 
new  process,  295,  296,  299  ;  price,  299 ; 
importations,  312  ;  no  metallic  lead 
produce,  354. 

Francis  I,  190,  194. 

Frankfort  Works,  308. 

Franklin  Institute,  premium,  79. 

Frankstown  Mine,  77. 

Frederick  town,  Md.,  76. 

Freiburg,  64,  308. 

French's  Collection,  82,  91,  92. 

French  Language :  argent,  10 ;  tin,  130, 
133;  litharge,  351. 

French  People :  Greek  mining,  18  ;  rela- 
tions to  Venice,  45  ;  revival  of  mining, 
51 ;  English  trade,  57  ;  Spanish  work, 
62  ;  attention  turned  to  mining,  65;  in 
Pennsylvania,  76  ;  in  Canada  (q.  v.)  and 
on  the  Mississippi  (q.  v.),  82;  delusion 
about  gold,  83,  88,  89 ;  knowledge  of 
America,  92;  bubble,  93;  in  Missouri, 
102;  settlers  and  smelting,  121;  favor- 
ite saint,  182;  drugs  imported,  237; 
crusades,  244 ;  wars,  271  ;  trade-com- 
petition, 275,  299 ;  authors  silent,  292  ; 
first  factory,  299 ;  unprofitable  work, 
300  ;  prosperity,  301. 

French  Republic,  65. 


Friars,  recipes,  346.     (See  Monks.) 
Frith  of  Forth,  57. 
Frontenac,  90. 

Fuggers,  Spanish  mining,  62,  64. 
Furnaces,  117-125,  231 ;  slag,  306. 
Furniture  :  ornaments,  154 ;  small  leaden, 
188;  overlaid,  190;  simple,  241. 


G. 


GADIR  (Gades),  4,  20,  131.     (See  Cadiz). 

Galen  :  glass  vessels,  136 ;  medicine,  174 ; 
white  lead,  209;  works,  218;  sandyx, 
349. 

Galena  :  bits  found,  27  ;  China,  69 ;  Vir- 
ginia, 72 ;  New  York,  73,  78,  79 ;  New 
England,  78  ;  mounds,  81 ;  Illinois,  87  ; 
Golden  Vein,  91 ;  Mississippi,  103 ; 
Mexico,  110,  111;  described,  114;  use, 
115;  pure,  117,118;  India,  124;  Pliny, 
128,  129;  roasted,  140,  286;  fumes, 
281 ;  white  lead,  286  ;  mines,  326,  328 ; 
ancient  description,  329 ;  with  silver, 
335  ;  compound,  341 ;  Dioscorides,  343; 
with  red  lead,  356  ;  glazing,  359. 

Galena  District :  water,  37 ;  Indians,  822  ; 
mines,  326. 

Galena,  town,  82,  86,  87. 

Galgacus,  warning,  41. 

Galicia,  tin,  131,  134. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  316,  317. 

Gallic  Provinces,  27,  136. 

Gallo-Roman  Tomb,  193. 

Galloway  Church,  239. 

Gard,  Department  "of,  24. 

Gardner,  Smith,  patent,  329. 

Garonne  River,  26. 

Gaston  de  Foix,  52. 

Gaul :  trade,  22  ;  pottery,  23  ;  lead,  24  ; 
mining-wealth,  42  ;  tin,  132  ;  urns,  167  ; 
Roman  rule,  171,  177  ;  guilds,  178.  (See 
France.) 

Gaunt,  Frederick,  76. 

Geber :  furnace,  116;  cupellation,  138; 
white  lead,  218 ;  red  lead,  345. 

Gems,  Italy,  230. 

Genoa:  trade,  244,  245;  factory,  273. 
(See  Italy.) 

Gentele,  J.'  G.  :  Lehrbuch,  213,  301,  307, 
309,  311 ;  kremserweiss,301,  311 ;  modi- 
fication, 305;  Klagenfurth.  308;  cham- 
ber process,  308 ;  German  process,  309, 
310. 

Geology,  researches,  69. 

Gerdes,  F.  W.,  333,  334. 


INDEX. 


371 


German  Language :  technical  terms,  47 ; 
tin,  135 ;  white  lead,  247 ;  names  for 
adulterations,  303,  304. 

German  Method,  266,  269,  270,  273,  275, 
280,  305;  (1733),  302;  new,  307,  308; 
present,  309,  310;  mixed,  311;  Salem, 
321. 

Germans  :  brought  to  England  by  Eliza- 
beth, 56 ;  miners  in  New  York,  73 ;  in 
Connecticut,  77 ;  smelting,  142 ;  rules 
of  manufacture,  193;  knowledge,  230; 
drugs,  237 ;  supplies  to  England,  275 ; 
competition  with  France,  299. 

Germany :  early,  8 ;  Burgundian  con- 
quest, 44;  relations  to  Venice,  45; 
trade,  53  ;  metallic  exports,  55 ;  lead- 
increase,  59,  61  ;  competition,  61 ;  sus- 
pended work,  62  ;  secondary  rank,  64 ; 
metallurgy,  102 ;  present  work,  127, 
128;  manuscript,  223;  route,  245  ;  white 
lead,  254 ;  fairs,  256;  raw  material,  271 ; 
cheapness  of  white  lead,  274  ;  rich 
field,  292;  white  lead,  301-313;  estab- 
lished, 301 ;  grinding  white  lead  in  vine- 
gar, 304;  Dutch  process,  305;  produc- 
tion, 312 ;  yellow,  350. 

Gesner,  plumbago,  342. 

Giallolino,  350. 

Gibraltar,  traffic,  131. 

Giorgione,  fresco,  259. 

Giotto,  224. 

Girdles,  188,  192. 

Giromagny  Mines,  65. 

Gladiators,  164,  165. 

Gladstone's  Homer,  10. 

Glamorganshire :  lead,  57 ;  red  lead,  353. 

Glasgow  Mills,  290,  291. 

Glasgow,  William,  Jr.,  327,  328. 

Glass  :  relics,  36  ;  mirrors,  191 ;  French, 
230 ;  windows,  240. 

Glassmaking :  ancient,  192 ;  red  lead, 
338. 

Glassworkers,  litharge,  335. 

Glazing,  357-359.     (See  Pottery.) 

Gloucestershire,  168. 

Glue,  231. 

Gmelin's Handbook:  furnaces,  118;  paint, 
205  ;  white  lead,  210 ;  new  method,  307, 
308;  oxidation,  336.  (See  Chemistry. ) 

Gold  :  ancient  fable,  2 ;  from  sun,  3 ; 
Spanish,  4 ;  early  knowledge,  6  ;  first 
metal  known,  7 ;  separated,  8 ;  with 
lead,  8  ;  relation  to  silver,  7,  9  ;  Moses, 
10  ;  money,  10  ;  names,  11 ;  transmuta- 
tion, 12,  13,  336,  337;  Assyrian,  15; 
African,  15,  22  ;  greed,  21,71*;  Job,  32  • 


Crown  reserve,  72,  88 ;  Indians,  81  ; 
with  galena,  114  ;  earliest  writers,  116  ; 
bullion,  128;  differences,  132 ;  temples, 
134 ;  with  tin,  134 ;  purification,  137 ; 
smelting,  139,  145 ;  ancient  money, 
148;  encased  in  lead,  149  ;  Troad,  152  ; 
wheel,  153 ;  Swiss  lakes,  156 ;  solder- 
ing, 161;  ecclesiastical  objects,  189; 
burial-mounds,  190  ;  scarcity,  194  ; 
plated  wood,  215 ;  ornaments,  230 ; 
with  molybdena,  342 ;  with  lead,  343 ; 
litharge,  351.  (See  Precious  Metals, 
Silver.) 

Gold-mining:  Massachusetts,  74;  West, 
83,  90,  93,  94;  Pliny,  345. 

Goldsmiths,  194. 

Gomez,  mining  failure,  62. 

Gonda,  271. 

Gonnes,  163. 

Good  Hope,  passage,  246,  270,  271. 

Gortyna,  treasure,  149. 

Goshorn  Brothers,  331. 

Gossage  Patent,  287. 

Grace,  Thomas,  suggestion,  284,  285. 

Graham  Distillery,  320. 

Granada,  218.     (See  Arabs,  Saracens.) 

Granby  Works,  103-105. 

Grant-Francis,  Colonel,  57,  353. 

Graphite,  first  mentioned,  342.  (See 
Black  Lead,  Plumbago.) 

Graves,  Thomas,  74. 

Gravestones,  leaded,  77. 

Great  Britain  :  relations  to  Gaul,  23,  24 ; 
little  known,  25  ;  early  trade,  25  ;  met- 
allurgy, 26 ;  lead-deposits,  27-30 ;  Cam- 
den  on,  28,  120;  Roman  rule,  29-34, 
42 ;  stone  age,  30 ;  relations  to  France, 
50 ;  annual  yield,  58-60 ;  mines  closed, 
60 ;  American  imports,  110 ;  white 
lead,  276-291 ;  eighteenth  century,  283 ; 
manufactures  well  established,  284 ; 
sublimated  lead,  289,  290;  annual  pro- 
duction, 291.  (See  Britain,  England.) 

Great  Falls  Company,  325,  327. 

Great  Kanawha  River,  77,  78,  80. 

Great  Northern  Company,  79. 

Grecian  Islands :  settled,  5 ;  conquered, 
46. 

Greece  :  rise,  4 ;  early  mines,  17,  18 ;  lead 
to  France,  66,  67  ;  French  company, 
67  ;  foundries,  138  ;  lead,  149  ;  public 
buildings,  200  ;  walls,  201 ;  art-glory, 
221 ;  convent,  233;  litharge,  341.  (See 
Rome.) 

Greek  Language:  lead,  8;  planetary 
names,  11 ;  metalla,  21 ;  cassiteros,  132, 


372 


INDEX. 


133 ;  coins,  149 ;  inscriptions,  151 ;  seals, 
171 ;  wine,  213  ;  manuscripts,  218,  257 ; 
pharmakeia,  236 ;  litharge,  351. 

Greeks:  ignorance  of  Spain,  4;  early,  5; 
advance,  6 ;  poets,  14 ;  ancient  trade, 
22;  chariots,  26,  153;  slavery,  40; 
mine-workers,  39-41 ;  Roman  mines, 
42,43;  metallurgy,  116;  furnaces,  118, 
123-125;  tin,  131;  use  of  lead,  146; 
coinage,  148-150,  175  ;  navigation,  pun- 
ishment, 151 ;  excavated  cities,  154  ; 
pipes,  160  ;  slings,  161-163 ;  nude 
figures,  165 ;  cremation,  167  ;  weights, 
169,  170;  tokens,  171,  172;  societies, 
178 ;  mirrors,  190, 191 ;  ornaments,  191 ; 
white  lead,  201,  202;  preparation  of 
colors,  203  ;  cosmetics,  214  ;  artists,  225  ; 
painting,  230;  white  lead,  234;  Eracli- 
us,  257. 

Green  :  favorite  color,  242  ;  manufacture, 
248. 

Greenwich  Hospital,  57. 

Gregg  and  Hagner,  319,  326,  328. 

Gregg,  Isaac,  328. 

Grenoble,  292. 

Gre'vier,  Father,  92. 

Grote's  History,  5,  40. 

Groves  Patent,  286. 

Guadalcanal,  62. 

Guadalquivir  River,  20. 

Guayras,  138. 

Guichard's  Introduction,  224,  229,  230. 

Guildhall,  163.     (See  London.) 

Guilds,  177,  178. 

Guilford  Hall,  260. 

Guinea,  88. 

Guicciardia,  Louis,  quoted,  256. 

Gum-arabic,  250. 

Gunpowder,  33,  47. 

Guthloc,  48. 

Gwilt,  Joseph,  155. 

H. 

HAARLEM,  271. 

Hadrian :  inscription,  19,  29 ;  villa,  173. 

Hagen's  Arrival,  98. 

Hagner  Patent,  318,  319,  326. 

Halm,  0.  H.,  quoted,  106,  145. 

Hakemeye,  Roberto  de,  237. 

Haliartus,  besieged,  164. 

Halicarnassus  Mausoleum,  154,  166. 

Hall,  Bradley,  &  Co.,  331. 

Hallam's  History,  44,  192,  219,  240,  241 ; 

language  lost,  218. 
Hamburg,  debased  lead,  311. 


Hamilton  Patent,  319. 

Ham,  John,  286. 

Hammers  :  found,  31 ;  large,  32 ;  use,  34, 

47 ;  stone,  36. 
Hampton  Court,  190. 
Hand-jigs,  99,  100. 
Hannibal :  mines  opened,  21 ;  Alps,  34 ; 

Spain,  35  ;  treasures,  149. 
Hardin  County,  87. 
Harington,  Baron,  coinage,  187,  188. 
Harleian  Manuscripts,  2'22,  229. 
Harrison  and  Brothers,  323. 
Harrison  Works,  317. 
Harz  Mines,  48,  64. 
Haslett,  Leonard,  &  Co.,  331. 
Hatchets,  bronze,  36. 
Hazard,  Rowland,  99. 
Hebrews:     knowledge,   3;    kussuf,    10; 

metallurgy,  116 ;  tin,  132  ;  painting,  199. 
Heeren,  A.  H. :  Ancient  Nations,  4,  5, 16, 

161;  Africa,  39;  Historic  Races,  16,  17, 

19,  22,  147, 197, 198 ;  Egyptian  art,  196. 
Heilbron  Factories,  311. 
Helena  Mines,  105. 
Helios,  2,  3. 
Hendrie's  Theophilus,  138,  224,  225,  229- 

233,  243,  347. 
Hennepin's  Travels,  89. 
Henry  I.,  burial,  169. 
Henry  III. :  painting-account,  241 ;  order, 

260. 
Henry  VII. :    grants,   49 ;  herring-trade, 

51 ;  seals,  172. 
Henry  VIII. :   grant,  55 ;    account-book, 

186 ;  pewter,  193. 

Heou-Tchang,  counterfeit  mpney,  149. 
Herbert,  Lady,  62. 
Herculaneum,  Ancient,  pipes,  160. 
Herculaneum,  in  America,  96. 
Herkimer  County,  79. 
Herodotus:    description  of  a  mine,   17; 

tin,  130,  131;  currency,  149;  throwing 

lead,  151. 

Hesiod's  Poem,  157. 
Heyd's  History  :  Levant,  45 ;  commerce, 

246;  Italian  trade,  255. 
Hidalgo,  Mexico,  112. 
Hierapolis,  signs,  165. 
Hill,  Sir  John  :  translation,  281 ;  note,  340. 
Hills,  Townsend,  plant,  326,  331. 
Hindus:  quoted,  148;  temples,  198;  red 

lead,  358.     (See  Indies.) 
Hinton  and  Moore  Works,  321,  323. 
Hippocrates,  174. 
Hirtius,  Consul,  letter,  157. 
Hispalis  (Seville,  q.  v.),  20. 


INDEX. 


373 


Ilissarlik:  debris,  152;  site,  153,  154; 
wire,  155;  weights,  170. 

Hoang  Ti,  coinage,  148. 

Hochstetter,  acetate,  204,  210. 

Hoffmann,  K.  B. :  lead,  147, 150, 158, 165 ; 
story,  151  ;  figures,  165;  weights,  169; 
bronze,  170;  seals,  172;  medals,  173; 
surgery,  174;  white  lead,  209;  Xeno- 
plion,  214,  215. 

Hoffman,  Reed  and,  326. 

Hoguer  Patent,  286. 

Holland,  Dr.  Philemon,  28. 

Holland  :  commercial  rank,  53 ;  trade,  57, 
58,  237 ;  white  lead,  252,  255-275 ;  in- 
troduction, 261,  262 ;  climax,  2(53 »  mo- 
nopoly, 267  ;  new  method,  270,  271 ; 
factories,  271,  272;  influence  in  Eng- 
land, 276 ;  report  by  Jars,  291 ;  mode, 
292,  293;  supplies  to  France,  294; 
ceruse,  296,  297 ;  varying  manufac- 
tures, 301 ;  practice,  302;  exports,  312; 
customary  methods,  321 ;  litharge  trade, 
354;  red  lead,  355,  357.  (See  Dutch, 
Netherlands. ) 

Holy  Land,  pilgrims,  181,  244. 

Homer :  Rhodes,  6  ;  silver,  10 ;  Chaly- 
beans,  16 ;  tin,  133 ;  spear,  sounding, 
151;  Troy,  152,  153;  miltos,  338.  (See 
Troad.) 

Hong  Kong  Mines,  69. 

Hope  Manor,  49. 

Horsenclaver,  Baron,  73. 

Hosakura  Mine,  68. 

Houghsetter,  immigrant,  56. 

Household  Boke,  193,  194. 

Houses :  described,  240,  241 ;  unpainted, 
313.  (See  Furn iture,  Interior. ) 

How,  James,  328. 

Howard's  Cyclopaedia,  263. 

Hudson  Edition  Agatharchides,  39. 

Hudson  River,  328,  329. 

Huet,  M. :  drugs,  237;  litharge,  354; 
Dutch  supremacy,  271. 

Humbert,  alderman,  48. 

Hunde  and  Harre,  237. 

Hungary :  Roman  mines,  47 ;  miners 
taken  to  England,  55 ;  lead-yield,  67 ; 
white  lead,  301-313.  (See  Austria.) 

Hunt,  Robert :  sources,  27  ;  quoted,  28, 
29,  33,  34,  41,  50,  56,  59,  60,  122,  168, 
193;  latten  ware,  192;  red  lead,  353. 

Huntington  County,  75. 

Husband's  Enterprise,  77. 

Hyde's  Works,  328. 

Hydrogen  Sulphide,  160. 

Hypanis,  337. 


I. 


IBERIA:  trade,  4;  wealth,  19,  20,  22. 
(See  Spain.) 

Ichinowatari,  68. 

Iconography,  Christian  (q.  v.),  234,  349. 

Idaho,  18. 

Idols,  358. 

Iliad,  6.     (See  Homer.) 

Ilipa,  20. 

Illinois:  abundance  of  lead,  80,  86; 
mounds,  81 ;  southern  part,  87 ;  loca- 
tion, 88;  silver,  90;  ore,  109;  lead- 
fields,  116. 

Illuminated  Manuscripts  (q.  v.),  destroyed, 
257. 

Imposts,  57. 

Imprecatory  Tablets,  158. 

Impressment,  41,  49. 

Incense,  22. 

Indian  Ocean,  shores,  3. 

Indians :  subdued,  54 ;  massacre,  72  ; 
knowledge,  73 ;  hostility,  77 ;  agency, 
use  of  lead,  82 ;  friendship  with  Du- 
buque,  83,  84;  land-sale,  85;  lead-sale, 
86,  92 ;  relations  to  Lamotte,  secretive, 
91;  attack,  96;  smelting,  119,  120; 
squaws,  121 ;  puzzled,  139.  (See  Amer- 
ican, and  names  of  tribes.) 

Indies  :  lead,  8  ;  mines,  16  ;  trade,  22,  57 ; 
smelting,  124 ;  tin,  131 ;  caves,  199 ; 
passage  to,  246,  270,  271 ;  red  lead,  358. 
(See  Asia,  Hindus.) 

Interior  Decorations,  241,  242,  344.  (See 
Furniture,  Houses.) 

Inventions,  History  :  planets,  11 ;  litharge, 
129,  131,  341,  342;  tin,  132;  stannum, 
135 ;  tinning,  136 ;  plummet,  152  ;  mir- 
ror, 191,  192;  vinegar,  213;  apotheca 
ries,  237 ;  French,  294,  295. 

Inventories  of  Royal  Castles,  163,  164. 

Iowa,  80,  86. 

Iphidamas's  spear,  151. 

Ireland,  lead,  50. 

Iris,  allusion,  151. 

Iron :  early  known,  6 ;  Bible,  10,  32,  134, 
137,  156 ;  name,  11 ;  Africa  and  Assy- 
ria, 15;  Tartary,  17;  pick  (q.v.),  23, 
50;  ancient  implements,  27,  32,  36; 
Egyptian  ignorance,  31;  mauls,  34; 
old  laws,  49 ;  Germany,  55 ;  Virginia, 
72  ;  New  York,  73,  74  ;  Massachusetts, 
74;  Indians,  81;  with  lead,  114,  115, 
125 ;  earliest  references,  116 ;  furnace, 
118  ;  differences,  132 ;  with  sulphur,  140 ; 
pure,  141 ;  clamps  (q.  v.),  148,  154,  155; 


374 


INDEX. 


Troad,  152 ;  wire  hoops,  155 ;  Switzer- 
land, 156  ;  burial-mounds,  190 ;  salts, 
201 ;  ornaments,  230 ;  vessels  for  white 
lead,  303,  347;  oxide,  337;  ochres, 
340;  strips,  347.  (See  Metals.) 

Iron  Mountain,  101. 

Iroquois  Indians  (q.  v.),  89,  90. 

Irtimule  Mines,  19. 

Isaiah,  quoted,  137. 

Ischomachus,  story  of,  214,  215. 

Isidore  of  Seville  :  lead,  134 ;  white  lead, 
217,  218;  rank,  219;  era,  225;  cinna- 
bar, 345. 

Isle  of  Man,  49. 

Israelites,  slings,  161.  (See  Bible  and 
Hebrews.) 

Italian  Alps  (q.  v.),  19. 

Italian  Language :  names  for  white  lead, 
247 ;  litharge,  351. 

Italians :  in  Spain,  40 ;  galleys,  53 ;  Eng- 
lish trade,  57  ;  smelting,  125  ;  jewelry, 
230;  monasteries,  235;  cities,  243; 
trade,  244 ;  painters,  242 ;  methods, 
246;  priority,  261;  trade  gone,  263, 
271;  leaden  manuscripts,  265,  266; 
early  manufacture  of  white  lead,  271, 
272  ;  adulteration,  274 ;  eighteenth 
century,  273 ;  minium,  349  ;  yellow,  350. 

Italy  :  lead,  8 ;  ancient  mining,  19 ;  relics, 
26 ;  laws  of  mining,  47 ;  product,  66 ; 
coins,  149 ;  pipe,  159 ;  rings,  165 ;  tombs, 
188;  urns,  167;  columns,  173;  colors, 
203 ;  antiquities,  221 ;  Greek  names, 
Alcherius,  225 ;  northern  part,  245 ; 
age  of  white  lead,  254 ;  manufacture, 
255-275  ;  revival,  255,  347 ;  drug-trade, 
256 ;  Eraclius,  257 ;  art  centre,  259, 
260;  vinegar  abandoned,  304.  (See 
Rome.) 

Ithaca,  balls,  162. 

Ivory:  trade,  22;  spoons,  27;  ornaments, 
230. 


J. 


JABAL  ROSSAS,  meaning,  16. 

Jacob's  Precious  Metals,  18,  20,  40,  42, 

43,  47,  62,  63. 
Jalisco,  112. 
James  I. :    corporations,   184 ;   farthings, 

187. 

James  II.,  coinage,  175,  176. 
James  River,  80. 
Jamestown,  Va.,  72. 
Japanese :    water-raising,   37 ;    smelting, 

125. 


Japan,  mineral  wealth,  68. 

Jars,  Gabriel:  white  lead,  267-269,  280, 

281,  291,  292,  304;  in  England,  280. 
Jasper  County,  102-104. 
-Jeremiah,  quoted,  137. 
Jerusalem,  stormed,  181. 
Jesuits,  in  Canada,  88. 
Jewett  Factory,  325. 
Job,  quoted,  16,  156. 
John,  King :  grant,  126  ;  rolls,  241. 
Johnson,  H.  Abert,  report,  272,  273. 
Johnston,  William,  translation,  11. 
John  the  Baptist,  182. 
John  the  Good,  coins,  176. 
Joliet  Expedition,  82. 
Joplin  :  site,  103,  104 ;  factories,  105. 
Journal  des  Mines,  65,  68. 
Joutel's  Relation,  82. 
Jucherau  Grant,  83. 
Judea,  16. 

Judges,  quoted,  161. 
Julius  Cassar,  in  Britain,  24,  25. 
Jumieges  Abbey,  189. 
Jupiter :    Rhodes,  6 ;    China,  11 ;  statue, 

338. 
Juventus  Mundi,  quoted,  10. 


K. 


KANSAS  CITY,  109. 

Karsten,   C.  J.  B.,  quoted,   19,  47,   53, 

66. 

Kaskaskia,  91-93. 
Kaufmanniscber's  Lexicon,  271. 
Keir,  James,  patent,  285. 
Kennett,  Ferdinand,  104. 
Kensington  Works,  318. 
Kent :  coffins,  168 ;  painters,  243. 
Kentucky  :  convicts,  41,  42 ;   mining,  80  ; 

veins,  87  ;  location,  88. 
Kiangi,  29. 

Killick,  described,  161. 
King's  Field,  name,  49. 
Kingston,  John,  104,  105. 
Klagenfurth:  works,  213,  248;    process, 

272,  273,  305,  306;    established,  305; 

improved,  308;  imitated,  309;  Krems, 

310. 

Kneller,  Godfrey,  186. 
Knight,  Charles,  184,  186. 
Knights  Templar,  169. 
Knout,  164. 
Kohel  Mines,  16. 
Kopp,  H.,  quoted,  6,  133,  191. 
Kralingen  Factory,  271. 


INDEX. 


375 


Kremnitz :  mines,  47,  48 ;  no  white  lead, 

301 ;  method,  287,  288. 
Kremserweiss,  253,  288,  301,  311. 
Krems  Factory,  263,  288,  296,  301. 
Krems  White':  quality,  210  ;  names,  247, 

296 ;  favor,  262,  263  ;  rivals,  297,  298. 
Krunitz's   Cyclopedia,   white  lead,  263, 

304. 
Kurdistan,  17. 


LABARTE,  J.,  quoted,  194. 

La  Bastille,  96. 

Laborde's  Voyages,  S9. 

Lacedemonia,  white  lead,  24. 

Lachmann,  Karl,  quoted,  222,  223. 

La  Croix  aux  Mines,  65. 

Lacroix,  Paul,  quoted,  219,  221. 

Lallu  Method,  299. 

Lamborn's  Metallurgy,  8,  58,  62, 117, 143, 
145,  146. 

Lamothe  (La  Motte)  Cadillac,  89-93. 

Lamps  :  Roman,  23,  31 ;  in  museum,  29; 
earthen,  36 ;  Egyptian,  38. 

Lantao  Island,  69. 

Lanurium,  spouts,  158. 

Lardner's  Cyclopaedia,  169. 

La  Renaudiere,  94. 

L'Argentiere  Mines,  24,  5L 

Las  Babias  Canals,  36. 

La  Salle  :  expedition,  82  ;  arrival,  89. 

La  Selva,  63. 

Latin  :  tin,  132 ;  metals,  135  ;  inscriptions, 
157,  158;  manuscripts,  218,  257;  medi- 
camen,  236 ;  apotheca,  237 ;  Audemar, 
285 ;  names  for  white  lead,  304. 

Latten  Ware,  192. 

Laurium  :  early  mines,  17  ;  reopened,  67  ; 
slag,  123. 

Lawrence-Cesnola  (q.  v.)  Collection,  158. 

Law,  John,  92,  93. 

Laws,  Origin  of,  148. 

Layard,  A.  H. :  quoted,  15,  198 ;  colored 
sculpture,  200. 

Lead  :  fable,  2  ;  Spain,  4,  20,  21,  27,  292  ; 
early  known,  6  ;  first  discovery,  7  ; 
names,  7,  8  ;  valueless,  9  ;  Moses,  10  ; 
China  and  Persia,  11;  Saturn,  11-14: 
nature,  13,  14;  mountain,  16;  with  sil- 
ver, 19,  21,  59,  132-144,  345,  352 ;  trib- 
ute, 29, 49  ;  pigs,  19,  29,  30 ;  inscriptions, 
29 ;  value,  56,  149,  150 ;  importance  in 
England,  57 ;  yield,  57, 58  ;  exports,  57- 
60  ;  duty,  57  ;  increased  production,  62 ; 
reward,  76 ;  American  Revolution,  76, 


77  ;  melting,  96  ;  price,  109 ;  revival, 
110 ;  rarely  pure,  114 ;  chromate, 
molybdate,  115;  earliest  writers,  116; 
Indians,  121,  122 ;  with  coal,  126  ;  bul- 
lion, 128;  terms  confused,  129,  130; 
Bible  references,  134,  137, 151, 152, 156, 
157 ;  with  gold  (q.  v.),  137  ;  ancient  use, 
146-174;  glazing,  146;  Babylon,  148; 
in  bronze  (q.  v.),  150;  nautical  uses, 

151,  152;  Troad,   152,  155,  156;  mys- 
terious efficacy,  152 ;  Switzerland,  156 ; 
in  warfare,  164 ;  Southern  Italy,  166 ; 
medicine,  174;  Middle  Ages,  175-195; 
cheating,    185;    inlaid   work,   190;    in 
pewter,  193  ;  glass,  191,  192,  227,  229 ; 
in  ceruse,  203,  234  ;  with  oxygen,  204  ; 
calcined,  252 ;    carbonate,  284 ;   subli- 
mated, 289 ;   Germany,  292 ;   corroded, 
293,  303,  325 ;  excise,  318 ;  importation 
suspended,  315,  322 ;  price,  322 ;  trans- 
portation in  the  West,  324,  328,  329  ; 
heated,  335;    powdered,  336;    ancient 
paints,   337;    sand,   342;    purification, 
343  ;  in  minium,  348 ;   giallolino,  350 ; 
early  France,  354 ;  Troy,  358. 

Lead-acetate:  nature,  208,  209 ;  manufac- 
ture, 210,  212,  227  ;  pigment,  235 ;  mo- 
nopoly, 267;  process,  285,  288,  302. 
(See  White  Lead.) 

Lead-ashes,  122.     (See  Slag.) 

Lead-carbonate  (q.  v.),  115,  284. 

Lead-chloride,  288,  289. 

Leaden  Objects  :  relics,  26  ;  implements, 
27  ;  gravestones,  77  ;  in  burial-mounds, 
81 ;  plummets,  133, 152 ;  roofs,  143, 144 ; 
ornaments,  146,  147  ;  coins,  148,  149, 
153,  156,  175,  176,  179;  dice,  150;  an- 
chors and  armor,  151 ;  nets,  152  ;  idols, 

152,  153,  165 ;  offerings,  153  ;   wheels, 

153,  166  ;  vases,  154,  165,  166 ;  clamps, 
154, 155 ;  hoops,  155  ;  manuscripts,  157, 
158,  165;  conduits^  158-161,190;  uten- 
sils, 161;    bullets   (q.  v.),   162;    slings, 
162,  163;   cannon-ball,  163;   toys  and 
jewelry,    165,   166  ;    coffins,   167-169  ; 
weights,  169, 170  ;  seals,  170,  171 ;  med- 
als, 171-180  ;  alphabet,  179  ;  erotic  im- 
ages,  180;  amulets,   180,   181;   shells, 
181 ;  saints,  181,  182  ;   ecclesiastical  ar- 
ticles, 183,  189  ;  tokens,  183,  184,  187  : 
buckles,  188 ;   mortuary  articles,   188, 
189 ;  patens,  189, 190;  scales  and  beads, 
190 ;   mirrors,  190-192 ;   Grecian  orna- 
ments, 191 ;  spoons  and  furniture,  194 ; 
church  roof,  239,  240  ;  lined  barrels, 
328. 


376 


INDEX. 


Lead-metallurgy  (q.  v.),  58,  61-67,  125- 
127. 

Lead-mines  :  distress,  59 ;  German  im- 
migrants, 56  ;  shallow,  65,  66  ;  leases, 
85  ;  ores,  115,  116  ;  State  property,  118 ; 
earliest,  192;  views  (see  Schoolcraft) , 
122. 

Lead-mining  :  antiquity,  15-45,  192  ; 
Africa,  15,  17,  55-70;  Assyria,  15; 
Eastern  countries,  16;  Greece,  18, 
66  ;  Sardinia  and  Sicily,  19  ;  Gaul  (see 
France),  22 ;  Ancient  Europe,  23 ; 
Great  Britain,  24-30,  48-51 ;  India,  34  ; 
Middle  Ages,  46-54;  Hungary,  47,  67  ; 
Linares,  47 ;  Germany,  47,  48,  64  ;  Ire- 
land, 50 ;  Alps,  51,  52,  66 ;  Italy,  52, 
53 ;  modern  Europe,  Asia,  55-70  ;  Aus- 
tralia, 55-70,  60,  61;  production  in 
England,  57-60 ;  Austria,  61  ;  Spain, 
61-63 ;  Belgium,  66,  67 ;  Norway,  67  ; 
Turkey,  67,  68  ;  Russia  and  Japan, 
68 ;  China  and  Corea,  69,  70 ;  America, 
71-113;  Virginia,  72,  77-80;  New  York, 
73,  76,  78,  79;  New  England,  74-78; 
Pennsylvania,  75-79  ,  flood,  77  ;  Mary- 
land and  South  Carolina,  76 ;  Canada 
and  the  Lakes,  80 ;  Kentucky,  80,  87- 
89 ;  Northwestern  States,  80,  81 ;  Mis- 
sissippi River,  82-87,  91-106 ;  Missouri, 
101-106,  326,  328;  West,  105-110; 
Utah,  106;  Mexico,  110-112;  South 
America,  Peru,  113. 

Lead-oxides  :  protoxide,  9, 10 ;  East,  202  ; 
development,  335-360  ;  described,  335  ; 
Dutch,  352 ;  trade,  356  ;  modern  manu- 
facture, 357 ;  pottery,  358,  359 ;  Troy, 
358 ;  glazing,  359. 

Lead-salts,  202. 

Lead-sulphate,  115,  289. 

Lead-smelting  :  refining,  114-144 ;  old 
methods,  118-126;  furnaces  (q.  v.), 
118 ;  fumes,  124  ;  Phoenicians,  134  ; 
Spain,  138  ;  reduction,  141,  142  ; 
crystallization,  143 ;  imperfect  refine- 
ment, 144  ;  melting,  148. 

Leadville,  108,  112. 

Lead  works  :  poison,  160 ;  Rhodes,  206. 
(See  names  of  places.) 

Leather,  160. 

Leavitt,  David,  320. 

Le  Begue,  Jehan,  Collections,  222,  224, 
248,  285,  349-351. 

Le  Brun,  Pierre,  quoted,  252,  348,  349. 

Le  Clercq,  quoted,  89. 

Ledoux  Furnace,  124. 

Le  Febvre,  Nicolino,  quoted,  14,  278. 


Lefevre  &  Co.,  299. 

Lefort,  M.  J.,  ceruse  quoted,  263,  301. 

Leger,  Alfred,  quoted,  16,  18,  20,  23,  24, 
32,  33,  43,  51,  65,  116-118,  124,  137, 
138,  220. 

Le  Hon,  quoted,  pile-dwellings,  156. 

Leipsic  Library,  222. 

Liste  Edition,  229. 

Lemery,  on  red-lead,  354. 

Lenormant,  on  China,  1. 

Leonard,  Haslett  and,  Works,  331. 

Leon's  Travels,  139. 

L'Epinay,  office,  91. 

L'Escalopier,  Count  Charles,  quoted,  224, 
229. 

Lessing:  discoveries,  222;  oil  painting, 
223-226 ;  manuscript,  229. 

Le  Sueur's  Voyages,  82,  92. 

Leuch,  J.  Ch.,  quoted,  262,  263,  299,  301. 

Levant  Trade,  45,  246,  255. 

Lewis  and  Bartlett,  332. 

Lewis  and  Schoonmaker,  331. 

Lewis,  John  T. :  syndicate,  324. 

Lewis,  Mordecai,  and  Company,  317,  318, 
323,  328. 

Lewis  Patent,  289. 

Lewis,  Sir  George  C.,  quoted,  3,  26,  131. 

Libraire  Classique,  296. 

Liege,  274. 

Lille  Industry,  299. 

Lillebourne,  23. 

Limestone,  101. 

Limming,  Art  of,  237,  261. 

Linares  :  mines,  35,  47  ;  product,  62. 

Lincolnshire,  coffin,  48. 

Linseed  Oil,  231. 

Litharge:  valueless,  9;  Africa,  15;  Tar- 
tary,  17  ;  production,  58 ;  Pliny,  114 ; 
Rome,  129;  Spain,  Greece,  138;  for- 
mation, 141  ;  potteries,  251  ;  England, 
276, 354  ;  color,  283 ;  defined,  335 ;  use, 
336 ;  varieties,  341,  342 ;  spuma  argenti, 
842,  343;  red  lead  (q.  v.),  343,  354; 
names,  344,  350,  351,  355;  with  silver 
(q.  v.},  347;  early  manuscripts,  349; 
giallolino,  350 ;  treatment,  352 ;  ex- 
ports, 356,  357 ;  glazing,  358,  359 ;  re- 
duction to  lead,  359.  (See  Lead-oxide.) 

Little  Bear,  3. 

Livy's  History,  20,  161,  164. 

Lochon,  Sieur  de,  94.     (See  De  Lochon.) 

Log-furnace,  100. 

Loire,  Department  of,  24. 

London  :  records,  57,  185 ;  price  of  lead, 
59  ;  smelting,  126  ;  plumbers,  152 ;  Ar- 
tillery Company,  163 ;  catalogue,  172, 


INDEX. 


377 


188;  corporations,  184-186;  Old  and 
New,  186  ;  pewterers,  193 ;  houses,  241 ; 
early  white  lead,  263,  264 ;  modern 
trade,  272 ;  mills,  291 ;  German  lead 
312. 

London  Company,  inspired,  71. 

Louisburg  Siege,  96. 

Louisiana:  Historic  Collection,  82,  91, 
92;  governor-general,  84;  location,  88; 
description,  89;  Views,  90,  97,  102; 
scheme,  93  ;  History,  93  ;  Spanish  and 
French  rule,  96,  97 ;  purchase,  97,  316. 

Louis  XI.  :  mining,  51,  52 ;  saints,  182 ; 
era,  190,  224. 

Louis  XIV. :  grant,  88 ;  chief  druggist, 
261. 

Louisville  Works,  330.     (See  Kentucky.) 

Low  Countries,  trade,  245,  246.  (See  Bel- 
gium, Flanders,  Holland,  Netherlands.) 

Lubbock,  Sir  John,  quoted,  13,  26,  131. 

Lubec,  Maine,  78. 

Lubke,  Wilhelm,  quoted,  199. 

Lucretius  :  quoted,  2 ;  praetor,  164. 

Ludowig,  white  lead,  210. 

Lugo,  Cardinal  de,  189. 

Lulli,  Raymond,  224. 

Luna,  relics,  52. 

Lusitania  :  trade,  4,  22  ;  mines,  20 ;  little 
lead,  63;  tin,  131,  134.  (See  Portugal) 

Lydian  Coin,  148. 

Lyons  Conduit,  26. 


M. 


MACEDONIA  :  slaves,  39 ;  mountains,  124. 

Macot  Mines,  24. 

Macpherson,  D. :  Annals,  48-55,  175; 
monks,  220 ;  stone  church,  240 ;  Ven- 
ice, 244,  245,  256 ,  lead  oxides,  356. 

Madonna,  tokens,  181. 

Magnesia,  337. 

Maigne's  Dictionary :  white  lead,  263 ; 
glazing,  359. 

Maine:  lead,  78;  coast,  89. 

Maitland,  William,  quoted,  126,  184,  185. 

Malacca  (Malaga)  :  settled,  20 ;  slaves, 
39. 

Malava,  name,  8. 

Mai  as,  Sieur  de,  quoted,  52. 

Mandeville,  Geoffrey,  death,  169. 

Manuscripts:  made  with  lead,  156-158; 
mutilated,  219 ;  decorated,  220-227. 

Mapimi  District,  112. 

Mappae  Clavicula,  quoted,  225,  228,  233, 
235,  257,  346. 


Marameg  (Meramec)  River  and  Mines, 
90,  92,  93,  95. 

Marathon  :  leaden  balls,  162 ;  ruins,  166, 
167. 

Marcellus,  attack,  164. 

Marciana  Manuscript,  258,  350. 

Marco  Polo,  quoted,  17. 

Markham,  C.  R,  139. 

Marquette's  Voyages,  82. 

Mars,  Chinese  name,  11. 

Martial,  quoted,  216. 

Martigny,  Abbe',  quoted,  166. 

Martin,  Sir  Thomas,  speech,  59,  60. 

Maryland:  early  mining,  76;  company, 
332. 

Massachusetts :  precious  metals,  74 ;  an- 
chors, 151 ;  general  court,  188 ;  me- 
chanics, 314. 

Massa  Maritima,  53. 

Massicot,  202,  349,  351,  354-356. 

Massilia  (Marseilles),  25,  26. 

Materia  Medica,  connection  with  art,  207, 
214,  235-238,  247. 

Matte  :  shipped,  101 ;  found,  141. 

Matthioli,  Petri  Andrae  :  white  lead,  247 ; 
ceruse,  260 ;  spuma  argenti,  341,  342 ; 
litharge,  342-344,  351 ;  minium,  349. 

Mauberge,  Canoness,  176. 

Mauls  :  iron-shod,  34 ;  use,  47. 

Mazapil  District,  112. 

McBirney  and  Johnston,  333. 

McBurney,  A.,  patent,  321,  322. 

McCandless  Works,  321,  331. 

McCoy,  T.  J.  330,  331. 

McDaniels,  Peter,  76. 

McLeunon,  Barney,  321. 

VIechernich,  lead-yield,  65. 

Medals,  183,  184.  (See  Coins,  Seals, 
Tokens.) 

VIedicine,  connection  with  lead,  174,  202. 

Medinet-Abu,  147. 

Mediterranean  Sea  :  borders,  3,  4  ;  mines, 
17  ;  early  trade,  22  ;  slavery,  40  ;  non- 
intercourse,  44,  45  ;  trade,  53 ;  Galena, 
115;  bordering  nations,  131;  shells, 
181 ;  southern  shore,  244. 

Melbourne  Mines,  61. 

Melle,  coinage,  50. 

Mendipp  Hills,  28,  122. 

Vlenes,  laws  of,  9. 

Meramec  River :  lead,  92 ;  gold  and  sil- 
ver, 93. 

Merchandise,  seals,  171. 

Mercia,  King  of,  171. 

Mercury:  name,  11;  alchemy,  12;  in 
lead,  173.  (See  Quicksilver.) 


378 


INDEX. 


Merimee,  J.  F.  L. :  oil-painting,  210 ; 
white  lead,  296-298 ;  yellow,  351. 

Merrifield  Treatises,  192,  221,  225-229, 
237, 241, 243, 246-253,  285,  304, 345-359. 
(See  Audemar,  Eradius,  Theophilus.) 

Mesopotamia,  expedition,  146. 

Metallic  Wealth,  quoted,  74,  75,  80,  116. 

Metalliferous  Deposits:  Virginia,  71,  72; 
New  York,  73,  74;  Massachusetts,  74; 
Connecticut,  74,  75 ;  Pennsylvania,  75. 

Metallurgists:  early,  1,  359;  Ancient 
Workers,  16,  337. 

Metallurgy :  art,  3,  26 ;  Silver  and  Lead, 
8,  58,  117,  143,  145,  146;  Records,  17  ; 
System,  19,  47,  53, 66 :  Lead,  29,  35,  61- 
67, 120, 124-127, 140, 145, 336  ;  Ancient, 
37,  41,  119,  120,  133,  148,  150;  unskil- 
ful, 42  ;  primitive,  86  ;  simpler  pro- 
cesses, 117,  118.  (See  Lamborn,  Percy, 
Pictet.) 

Metals :  connection  with  civilization,  1  ; 
discovery,  1,  2  ;  properties,  2  ;  East,  3  ; 
Greek  knowledge,  6 ;  Old  Testament, 
6  ;  early  opinions  inaccurate,  6 ;  one  of 
the  elements,  11 ;  divine  influence,  11 ; 
seven,  12 ;  instability,  13,  14 ;  First 
Book  of  the  Art,  13,  52,  351 ;  Spain,  20, 
21;  Britain,  25, 26  ;  Crown  reserve,  88  ; 
Agricola  (q.  v.)  on,  126,  135,  138,  282; 
ancient  distribution,  134;  Assyrians, 
147  ;  of  Antiquity  and  Middle  Ages, 
195  ;  oxidation  (q.  v.),  359  ;  deoxidation, 
360.  (See  Precious,  and  also  separate 
metals.) 

Metalla,  21. 

Meteoric  Iron  (q.  v.),  81. 

Metropolitan  Museum,  relics,  166. 

Mexicans:  knowledge  of  metals,  110; 
furnaces,  124. 

Mexico :  mining  waste,  9 ;  conquest,  53, 
65,  71, 88, 110,  111 ;  border,  81  ;  mining 
expedition,  94;  dry  ore,  109;  Galena, 
110;  foreign  interest,  111;  historic 
mines,  111,  112  ;  deposits,  112. 

Miaramigoiia  River,  92. 

Michel,  favorite  saint,  182. 

Michigan  Lake,  329. 

Michillimackinac,  89. 

Michoacan  Mines,  112. 

Midas,  7. 

Middle  Ages:  mines,  46-54;  lead,  175, 
195 ;  dishes,  192  ;  articles,  194 ;  super- 
stition and  barbarism,  219 ;  manuscripts, 
221;  antiquities,  222;  buildings,  239; 
furniture,  241  ;  handwriting,  285  ;  lith- 
arge, 349.  (See  Hallam.) 


Middlesex  Painters,  243. 

Middletown,  Conn.,  75,  76,  78. 

Middleton  Dale,  chimney,  282. 

Milan  :  Duchess's  picture,  186 ;  Alcherius, 
226 ;  factory,  273. 

Mills,  James  E.,  quoted,  97-99,  102. 

Milltown  Mine,  50. 

Milwaukee,  Wis.,  329. 

Mine  a  Joe,  96. 

Mine  a  Robina,  96. 

Mine  La  Motte  (q.  v.),  94-102. 

Mineral  City,  88. 

Mineral  Kingdom,  quoted,  33,  248. 

Mineralogia  Cornubiensis,  quoted,  37, 130. 

Mineralogy,  Ancient,  quoted,  133, 137, 190. 

Mineral  Resources,  quoted,  64. 

Mines  :  Aper9u,  23,  24  ;  Royall  Company 
(see  Society],  57  ;  exploitation,  138. 

Miniatori,  221. 

Miniature,  derivation,  220. 

Mining :  ancient,  33-37,  41,  119,  126,  148, 
150;  difficulties,  33-36;  methods  and 
cost,  59.  (See  Lead-mining,  Metallurgy.) 

Minium,  215,  335-354 ;  names,  247.  (See 
Red  Lead.) 

Mint,  Bushell's,  56.     (See  Coinage.) 

Mirrors,  150,  190-192 ;  rare,  24L 

Mississippi,  location,  88. 

Mississippi  River :  mounds,  80 ;  Le  Sueur, 
82  ;  upper,  82,  119-121 ;  head-water,  83  ; 
sources,  84 ;  Charlevoix,  92  ;  fort,  93 ; 
smelting,  119-121 ;  transportation,  324; 
outlet,  328. 

Mississippi  Scheme,  92-95. 

Mississippi  Valley  :  monuments,  81 ;  dry 
bone,  123. 

Missouri :  abundant  lead,  80,  94 ;  loca- 
tion, 88  ;  mines,  85,  91,  97,  98, 122  ;  min- 
eral region,  90;  silver,  90  ;  hunter,  96; 
Spanish  and  French  rule,  97  ;  Southern, 
102-104 ;  geological  survey,  product, 
105;  ore,  109  ;  clay,  116;  bullets,  117; 
log-furnace,  121 ;  slag,  123 ;  undevel- 
oped mines,  322 ;  fields,  328. 

Missouri  Company,  332. 

Missouri  River :  early  miners,  37 ;  voyage, 
40,  90,  92. 

Mithras,  worship,  165. 

Mobile  Bay,  frigate,  89. 

Modena :  mines,  52 ;  siege,  157. 

Mohammed,  rise,  44.  ( See  Arabs,  Moors, 
Saracens.) 

Molybdena,  114, 129,341-344;  defined, 342. 

Molybditis,  340. 

Mommsen,  Theodore,  quoted,  40. 

Money,  176.     (See  Coins,  Silver.) 


INDEX. 


379 


Monks  :  power,  219-221, 236 ;  their  drug- 
monopoly,  259,  260. 

Monochrome,  200,  201. 

Monopolies,  259,  260,  353. 

Monroe,  Conn.,  78. 

Monroe,  President,  message,  85. 

Montana,  105. 

Monterey  Mines,  112. 

Montgolfier's  Invention,  294. 

Montgomery  County,  79. 

Montreal,  priests,  89. 

Moon,  11,  12. 

Moore,  N.  F.,  quoted,  133,  137,  190. 

Moore's  Factory,  321. 

Moors  :  authors,  46 ;  expelled,  61 ;  slag, 
123.  (See  A ra bs,  Saracens.) 

Moravia,  settled,  47. 

Morley,  J.  H.,  331. 

Mormons,  acquaintance  with  lead,  106. 
(See  Utah.) 

Mosaic  Work*  201. 

Moscow,  relics,  166. 

Moses :  purification,  127 ;  painting,  199. 
(See  Bible,  Hebrews.) 

Mulder's  Definition,  204. 

Mummies,  170,  197. 

Muratori  Manuscript,  221,  222. 

Murcia  Mines,  63. 

Muspratt's  Chemistry,  266,  267,  270. 

Mycenae  Relics,  5,  154,  191,  358.  (See 
Troad.) 

Mythology,  10. 


N. 


NADAILLAC,  MARQUIS  DE,  smelting,  81. 

Nani  Library,  222. 

Napier's  Ancient  Workers,  quoted,  337. 

Naples  :  museum,  214;  factory,  273;  yel- 
low, 339. 

Nassau,  61. 

Navarre  arms,  183. 

Navigation,  3,  4,  151. 

Needles,  lead  in  bronze,  150. 

Nemours,  Due  de,  52. 

Nero  :  inscription,  29 ;  voice,  174. 

Nertschinsk  District,  68. 

Netherlands,  256. 

Nevada,  105-107,  112,  115. 

Newark,  N.  J.,  trade,  106. 

New  Britain,  Conn.,  333. 

New  Carthage,  21. 

Newcastle:  pumps,  37;  exports,  57 ;  im- 
portance, 291 ;  red  lead,  356. 

New  England :  minerals,  74 ;  History, 
quoted,  75.  (See  separate  States.) 


New  Hampshire,  ore,  78. 

New  Jersey,  business,  333. 

New  Mexico,  increased  mining,  108. 

New  Netherlands,  charter,  73.  (See  New 
York.} 

New  Orleans  :  voyage,  82 ;  sale,  96  ;  mar- 
ket, 323,  324,  328. 

New  South  Wales:  letter,  61;  native 
lead  carbonate,  115. 

New  Testament,  golden  leaves,  157. 

Newton  County,  Mo.,  103,  104. 

Newtown  (Cambridge),  coins,  188. 

New  World,  established  of  Faith,  89. 

New  York :  prisoners,  41 ;  Eevolutionary 
supplies,  77  ;  deposits,  78 ;  Western  en- 
terprises, 105;  establishments,  319,320; 
ships,  324,  328  ;  business,  333. 

Niagara  :  expedition,  89  ;  company,  330, 
331. 

Nicholas,  favorite  saint,  182. 

Nicias:  sculpture,  200;  discovery,  339. 

Nickel :  Missouri,  101 ;  galena,  114 ;  re- 
moved, 143. 

Nimroud's  Mound,  198. 

Nineveh  :  Remains,  quoted,  15,  198 ;  glaz- 
ing, 359. 

Ninian's  Church,  239. 

Nitocris,  Queen,  148. 

Noble's  Experiment,  285. 

Noorthoack's  History,  quoted,  185, 186. 

Norfolk  Company,  327. 

North  America  (q.  v.)  :  deposits,  81  ; 
Travels  in  the  Interior,  83;  Voyages 
quoted,  92,  95. 

North  Carolina,  galena,  79. 

Northeast,  N.  Y.,  73,  76. 

North  Pacific  Railroad,  108. 

Northrop,  relics,  28. 

Northumberland :  ancient  works,  27  ; 
earl's  account,  193,  194 ;  king  of,  240 ; 
white  lead,  271. 

Norway  :  discovery,  25  ;  present  condi- 
tion, 67  ;  burial  mounds,  190  ;  importa- 
tions, 312. 

Notre  Dame  Church,  relics,  177, 178. 

Nubia :  gold,  15 ;  relics,  31 ;  bones,  39. 

Numbers,  Book  of,  199. 

Nuremberg :  rules,  193 ;  red  lead,  355. 

Nut-oil,  233. 

O. 

OCHRES,  201. 

Odin  Mine,  48. 

Odo  the  Goldsmith,  242. 

O'Fallon  Company,  331. 


380 


INDEX. 


Ohio,  333. 

Ohio  River :  mounds,  80 ;  vein,  87. 

Oil  Painting  (q.  v.)  :  Merimee,  210 ;  old, 

222-226;  white  lead,  264, 278,  279,  353; 

French  account,  298,  351. 
Oil :  press,  150 ;  mill,  154 ;  use,  222,  223, 

242. 

Oinan,  16. 

Old  Mosely  Mine,  103. 
Old  Regime,  quoted,  89. 
Old  Testament :  metals,  6 ;  lead,  8 ;  geog- 
raphy, 39.     (See  Bible,  Hebrews.) 
Olives,  150. 
Ophthalmia,  115. 
Orange-color,  336,  339,   346,   347.     (See 

Yellow.) 

Ore-hearth,  127. 
Orena  Works,  105. 
Organ  :  pipes,  77  ;  building,  231. 
Orient:   metallurgy,   116;   luxury,   244; 

trade,  245,  246.     (See  East,  Indies.) 
Orleans  Factory,  299. 
Osterode  Factories,  311. 
Ouabache,  settlement  founded  on,  83. 
Oudenarde,  siege,  176. 
Ouisconsin  (Wisconsin),  lands,  83. 
Ouse  River,  166. 

Overbeck,  Dr.  J.,  quoted,  155,  165. 
Oxichloride,  289. 
Oxidation,  139,  140,  336,  355 ;  eucharist, 

189 ;  wine,  212. 

Oxides,  7,  141,  201-208,  212,  352. 
Oxus  River,  16. 
Oxygen  and  Lead,  115,  117. 
Ozark  Mountains,  91. 


P. 


PACIFIC  STATES,  81,  111. 

Paddington,  pipe,  190. 

Padua :  Alcherius,  226 ;  manuscript,  251, 
252,  351. 

Paeonia  Mines,  18. 

Paint,  colonial  scarcity,  313,  314.  (See 
•  Green,  Red,  White.) 

Painted  Chamber,  260. 

Painters'  Company,  185-187. 

Painting :  anecdotes,  186,  241,  257 ;  mix- 
ing paints,  192,  221 ;  Egypt,  196  ;  East- 
lake,  221,  226,  236,  237,  243,  254,  259, 
260;  Cennini  (q.v.),22B,  237;  Eraclius, 
225,  226,  229;  buildings,  243;  white 
lead,  247-250,  263,  274,  301;  secrets, 
251-253 ;  order,  260 ;  sandarach,  349. 

Paints,  specifications,  277. 


Palette,  modern,  277. 

Palfrey's  History,  quoted,  75. 

Panchaia,  2. 

Papal  Deeds,  170,  171. 

Paphos,  signs,  165. 

Papyrus,  cut  off,  219. 

Paracelsus,  174. 

Parchment,  dear,  219.    (See  Manuscripts.) 

Paris  :  exposition,  35 ;  relics,  36 ;  guilds, 
177;  tokens,  177-180;  library,  222: 
manuscript,  222-226;  Le  Brun,  252; 
custom-house,  293;  ceruse,  293;  ex- 
periments, 296;  methods,  299;  facto- 
ries, 300. 

Parkman,  Francis,  quoted,  89,  90. 

Parma,  Duke  of,  256. 

Parthenon,  colors,  200. 

Patent  Office,  burned,  316,  322. 

Patroons,  mining,  73. 

Pattinson  Process,  141-143,  288,  289. 

Paul,  sounding,  151. 

Pausanias,  quoted,  17,  157,  160,  234. 

Peabody,  Francis,  321,  324,  327. 

Peabody  Museum,  81. 

Pegolotti,  agent,  246. 

Peloris  Cape,  old  mine,  19. 

Pen  and  Pencil,  278. 

Penicaut  Voyage,  82,  92. 

Pennant,  Thomas,  quoted,  24,  28,  29,  33, 
49,  56-58,  119,  152,  180,  356. 

Penn  Family,  land,  77. 

Pennsylvania:  Swedes,  75;  assembly,  77; 
ore,  79 ;  society,  314,  315 ;  importance 
of  manufactures,  316. 

Pensacola  :  siege,  94  ;  trade,  89. 

Pentre  Ff  wrn-Dan,  28. 

Peoria,  site,  82. 

Pequod,  75. 

Percy :  quoted,  29,  30,  35,  61,  63-67, 120, 
124-127, 140, 145  ;  buttons,  191 ;  oxida- 
tion, 336  ;  lead  oxides,  357. 

Perkiomen  Mine,  79. 

Perrot,  Nicholas,  trader,  82. 

Persia,  silver,  16. 

Persian  War,  18. 

Persians  :  name  for  lead,  8 ;  worship,  11 ; 
sacred  number,  12 ;  metallic  stores,  21 ; 
slings,  161,  162 ;  manufactures  to  Eu- 
rope, 245. 

Pertusola,  66. 

Peru:  conquest,  53,  65,  71,  88;  travels, 
113,  123;  Royal  Commentaries,  119, 
124,  139. 

Peruvians  :  knowledge  of  lead,  112,  113 ; 
graves,  113;  smelting,  119,  124;  fuel, 
123  ;  metallurgy,  138,  139. 


INDEX. 


381 


Peterborough,  coffin,  26. 

Petillius,  Lucius,  chests,  161. 

Petrus  de  Sancto  Audemaro  (q.  v.),  manu- 
script, 226,  227. 

Pettigrew  Factory,  319. 

Pettus,  Sir  John,  353. 

Pewter  :  organ-pipes,  77  ;  meaning,  133  ; 
toys,  165 ;  money,  176,  187 ;  saints, 
182 ;  tokens,  187  ;  buckles,  188 ;  table 
furniture,  192-194;  ingredients  and 
trade,  193;  artistic  work,  194. 

Pfahlbauten,  relics,  153. 

Phallic  Worship,  180,  181. 

Pharaohs  :  era,  8 ;  war,  16 ;  power  lost,  31 ; 
age,  146;  tribute,  197.  (See  Egypt.) 

Philadelphia  :  merchants,  314  ;  factory, 
315,317,318;  production,  322 ;  market, 
324 ;  new  process,  333 ;  lead  oxide, 
357. 

Philetas  the  Teacher,  151. 

Philip  of  Macedonia,  124. 

Philipse,  Frederick,  mine,  73. 

Phillips  and  Darlington's  Records,  17,  37, 
41,  119,  148,  150. 

Phillips,  waterproof  picture,  233. 

Phillips,  John,  quoted,  29,  30,  120,  126, 
133,  166,  168. 

Phillipps,  Sir  Thomas,  225. 

Philosopher's  Stone,  14. 

Phoebus,  picture,  186. 

Phoenicia  :  mines,  16  ;  mission,  167. 

Phoenicians  :  discovery,  2 ;  history,  3,  4 ; 
colonies,  5 ;  skill,  17 ;  Sardinia,  19  ; 
cupidity,  19,  20 ;  metallic  stores,  21 ; 
trade,  22,  134;  French  mining,  24; 
spirit,  35 ;  tin,  130 ;  shops,  131 ;  expe- 
dition, 146  ;  anchors,  151. 

Picher,  Judge  0.  H.,  105. 

Picks  :  large,  28,  32 ;  old,  31 ;  use,  34,  47 ; 
Ireland,  50;  sufficient,  86,  97. 

Pictet,  Adolph,  quoted,  8. 

Piedmont :  mines,  19,  52. 

Pigeonneau :  importations,  50 ;  com- 
merce, 52,  171,  178;  monks,  220; 
Orient,  244 :  Italian  trade,  255. 

Pig-lead  :  use,  353,  354. 

Pigments,  medicine  and  painting,  237, 
238,  246. 

Pike's  Expedition,  84. 

Pila  Mountain,  syphons,  160. 

Pile-dwellings,  156. 

Pilgrim-signs,  165,  181-183. 

Pillars  of  Hercules,  3,  4. 

Piraus,  fire,  339.     (See  Athens.) 

Pisa  :  mining,  53  ;  commerce,  244. 

Pittsburg:    factories,   319,   324;    (1817), 


325,  330;  new  process,  320,  331,  333, 
334 ;  sale,  327. 

Pizarro,  61. 

Planets,  relation  to  metals.  11,  12.  (See 
Astronomy. ) 

Platt  and  Thornburg,  331. 

Pliny's  Natural  History  :  early  use  of 
lead,  2-8  ;  decree,  19  ;  Spanish  wealth, 
21  ;  abundance  of  lead,  27  ;  Great 
Britain,  28 ;  mining,  34,  35 ;  exhala- 
tions, 38;  galena,  114,  128-130;  tin, 
131,  132 ;  stannum,  133,  341  ;  tinning, 
135,  136;  cost,  150;  harness,  152;  pipes, 
159  ;  soldering,  161 ;  medicine,  174  J 
mirrors,  191 ;  colors,  200-206 ;  white 
lead,  208,  214,  217,  227,  234,  254;  wine- 
must,  212  ;  cosmetics,  215,  294;  period, 
272 ;  process,  281  ;  gold,  337 ;  minium, 
338,  344;  silver,  339;  description  of 
method,  340,  341 ;  localities,  341 ;  san- 
darach,  345 ;  red  lead,  349,  359 ;  spuma 
argenti,  351 ;  orange  mineral,  354  ;  glaz- 
ing, 359. 

Plumbago,  first  mention,  342. 

Plumbers:  company,  185-187;  hall,  185. 

Plumbum,  defined,  158. 

Plumbum  Candidum,  134. 

Plumbum  Ustum,  343,  344. 

Plummets  :  Bible,  133;  Troad,  152;  Italy, 
166. 

Plymouth,  Conn.,  78. 

Poland,  8,  26. 

Pollio,  Marcus  Vitruvius  (q.  v.),  155. 

Polybius,  quoted,  21,  164. 

Pomet:  drugs,  24,  65;  pottery,  65,  66; 
office,  261,  262;  Dutch,  292,  293;  min- 
ium, 353,  354. 

Pompeii :  ruins,  155 ;  pipes,  160 ;  relics, 
165;  inner  life,  200,  201;  pigments, 
202,  203. 

Pontigibaud  :  mines,  23 ;  company,  66. 

Pontoise  Factory,  299. 

Pontus,  minium,  337. 

Po  River,  45. 

Portillon  Factory,  299. 

Portland,  Maine,  market,  323. 

Portugal :  name,  4  ;  trade,  4,  63 ;  litharge, 
9;  relics,  35,  36;  production,  63.  (See 
Lusitania.) 

Portuguese:  in  Peru.  113;  navigation, 
246. 

Postlethwayt's  Translation,  294. 

Potin,  156,  193. 

Potosi :  lead,  94,  95 ;  digging,  98 ;  jour- 
neys, 102. 

Potossi,  139. 


382 


INDEX. 


Pottery  :  decorated,  6 ;  Gallic,  23  ;  old, 
27  ;  glazed,  65,  227,  357-359;  minium, 
337. 

Prairie  du  Chien,  83,  85. 

Pratte  Family,  98,  ]00. 

Praxiteles,  200. 

Precious  Metals  :  mines,  18 ;  triumphal 
processions,  20  ;  history,  40,  43,  47,  52, 
63,  71 ;  Egyptian  exports,  53 ;  not  ex- 
pected in  Massachusetts,  74;  search, 
93.  (See  Gold,  Silver.) 

Prehistoric  America,  81. 

Prehistoric  Man,  150. 

Prehistoric  Races,  81. 

Prehistoric  Times,  26,  132. 

Preschel,  J.  S.,  quoted,  308. 

Prescott,  W.  H.,  quoted,  111. 

Priam's  City,  153.     (See  Troy.) 

Printz,  Swedish  leader,  75. 

Prisoners  of  War,  41.  (See  Criminals, 
Slaves.) 

Prometheus,  2. 

Prophets,  quoted,  132.     (See  Bible.) 

Protection,  sought  for  white  lead,  318. 

Provost  Factory,  319. 

Prussia:  native  lead,  115;  demand  for 
white  lead,  262,  303. 

Pryce,  W.,  quoted,  37,  130. 

Przibram  Mines,  67. 

Psimitthium  (psimitthim),  205,  206,  221. 

Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  151. 

Pumpelly,  Raphael :  travels,  37,  38,  68, 
127  ;  geology,  69. 

Pumps,  36,  37. 

Purpurea,  339. 

Puteoli:  springs,  160;  white  lead,  215; 
works,  340-342. 

Putnam,  Prof.  F.  W.,  quoted,  81. 

Pyrenees,  51,  52. 

Pytheas,  trade-record,  25,  26. 

Pythocles,  149. 


Q. 


QUICKSILVER  :  Rome,  purifying  gold,  6  : 
names,  11,  344;  relation  to  lead,  14: 
mirrors,  191 ;  vermilion,  337 ;  fluid  hu- 
mors, 338.  (See  Mercury.) 


R. 

RAIKES,  G.  A.,  quoted,  163. 
Raine,  Consul-General,  312. 
Raisins,  with  white  lead,  284,  285. 


Ramsay,  Sir  Thomas,  utensils,  194. 

Ramses  III.,  temple,  147. 

Ras-al-Had,  16. 

Raspe,  R.  E.,  quoted,  222-225. 

Ravenna,  Archbishop  of,  157. 

Rawlinson,  George,  quoted,  17. 

Raymond's  Report,  87,  88. 

Raynal's  Statement,  48. 

Reading,  ignorance  of,  186. 

Red  Lead  :  Massachusetts,  74 ;  cosmetic, 
147 ;  preparation,  236  ;  account-books, 
242,  243;  England,  276,  277;  color 
changed,  283,  335,  336 ;  United  States, 
316 ;  price,  323 ;  composition,  335,  345, 
349,  352,  355 ;  confusion  of  names,  337  ; 
early  known,  338;  true,  339;  Pliny, 
340;  litharge,  343 ;  process,  343,  344; 
bath-excavation,  345  ;  patent,  352,  353 ; 
reheated,  354  ;  manufacture,  trade,  mo- 
nopoly, 356 ;  furnaces,  357 ;  Orient,  358. 
(See  Litharge,  Minium.) 

Red  Sea,  15, 16,  39, 137,  345.   (See  Egypt.) 

Reed  and  Hoffman,  326. 

Reel  Pattern,  167. 

Remembrancer,  The,  57,  185. 

Renaissance,  224.     (See  Revival.) 

Renan's  Travels,  167. 

Renaudiere,  La,  94. 

Renault,  Phillippe  Francis,  40,  91-96. 

Renwick  Enterprise,  327. 

Reservoirs,  in  England,  33. 

Revival  in  Europe,  239,  255,  272. 

Revolutionary  War :  cost  of  lead,  58  ; 
white  lead,  313 ;  merchants,  314,  317. 
(See  American.) 

Revue  Archeologiqne,  1,  24,  193. 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  186. 

Rhenish  Provinces,  64,  308,  312. 

Rhine  River,  robber  barons,  44. 

Rhodes :  enterprise,  5,  6 ;  white  lead,  178, 
206,  214. 

Rhone  River,  131,  178. 

Rhys,  J.,  quoted,  24,  26,  131. 

Ricaut,  Sir  Paul,  119. 

Richard  II.,  burial,  169. 

Richards,  Joseph,  317,  318. 

Richmond  Company,  106. 

Richmond,  Va.,  80. 

Rich's  Dictionary,  158,  165. 

Riffault :  patent,  287,  288 ;  treatise,  299, 
308;  methods,  299;  new  operations, 
308. 

Rigollot,  on  Money,  176. 

Ripley,  Charles,  325. 

Rivers  of  Yorkshire,  quoted,  29,  30, 
168. 


INDEX. 


383 


Roberdeau,  Colonel,  77. 

Roberte's  Patent,  277. 

Robertson's  Report,  275. 

Rocky  Mountains :  mining,  9 ;  lead,  106, 
112;  cerussite,  115. 

Romagna,  glazing,  358. 

Roman  Empire  :  resources,  42,  43  ;  scien- 
tific ignorance,  43  ;  Western  mines,  43 ; 
fall,  44,  47,  53,  217,  218,  225,  243,  263, 
272. 

Romans  :  early  knowledge  of  metals,  6  ; 
booty,  22;  in  Spain,  23,  40,  46;  in 
France,  23,  24,  35,  36 ;  in  Great  Britain, 
24-32,  48;  captives,  141;  Alps,  61; 
metallurgy,  116:  slag,  123;  furnaces, 
125  ;  tokens,  148  ;  coins,  149,  175  ;  rel- 
ics, 150 ;  punishment,  151 ;  fish-net, 
152;  masonry,  154;  conduits,  159-161; 
slings,  162,  163;  Syrian  war,  164;  tor- 
tures, 164,  165 ;  figures,  165 ;  toys,  166  ; 
tombs,  167,  168;  weights,  169,  170; 
seals,  171-173;  in  Gaul,  178;  chalice, 
188  ;  mirrors,  190,  191 ;  colors  and  arts, 
192,227-229;  public  decorations,  200; 
domestic  life,  200,  201 ;  pigments,  202  ; 
color-preparation,  203  ;  cosmetic,  214 ; 
art-glory,  221;  white  lead,  234;  best 
white  lead,  262  ;  factory,  273;  minium, 
338 ;  sil,  339,  340 ;  stannum,  341 ;  ce- 
russa  usta,  346  ;  vase  in  England,  358. 

Rome  :  rise,  4  ;  allies,  5 ;  early  mines,  19 ; 
Livy's  History,  20,  161,  164 ;  slavery, 
40 ;  foundry,  118 ;  quantity  of  lead,  146  ; 
ruins  and  aqueducts,  158, 159;  column, 
173  ;  colors  found,  345.  (See  Leger.) 

Roofs  :  old,  49 ;  lead  and  silver,  143. 

Rose  Clare,  Ills.,  87. 

Rosse's  Patent,  277. 

Rossie  Mines,  78,  79. 

Ross,  Thomasina,  113. 

Rotuli  Litterarum  Clausarum,  241. 

Rotterdam,  267,  268,  271,  280,  304. 

Rouen,  monopoly,  51. 

Rubrics,  explanation,  220. 

Rugerus,  Theophilus  (q.  v.),  223. 

Russia  :  name  for  lead,  8  ;  prisoners,  41 ; 
present  yield,  68  ;  punishment,  164. 

Ruthenian  Mines,  24. 

Ryan,  James  M.,  quoted,  86,  87. 


S. 

SAC  INDIANS,  83,  85,  322. 
Sackbuts,  154. 


Sadler  Process,  286. 

Saida,  coffins,  166,  167. 

Saint  Bernard,  rank,  224. 

Saint  Denis,  antiquities,  192. 

Saint  Francis  River,  90,  93. 

Saint  Fran9ois  County,  99,  102. 

Saint  Galle  Convent,  223. 

Saint  Girons,  lead,  24. 

Saint  Joseph  Company,  99,  102. 

Saint  Lawrence  County,  78. 

Saint  Louis,  Mo.,  83,  84,  92,  101, 109, 123, 

326-328,  331,  333;  convicts,  41. 
Saint  Marie  aux  Mines,  65. 
Saint  Mark's  Church,  230. 
Saint  Philippe  Company,  93. 
Saint  Salvatore  Convent,  250. 
Saint  Stephen's  Chapel,  237,  242,  243. 
Saint  Veit,  new  process,  305. 
Salamina,  158,  170, 172. 
Sala  Mines,  52. 
Salem :  courthouse,  314  ;  white  lead,  321 ; 

Company,  324,  327,  331. 
Salt,  ancient  trade,  22, 25. 
Salt  Green,  231,  232. 
Salt  Lake  Valley,  106. 
Salts,  201. 
Salve,  174. 
Salvers,  193. 

Sambre  River,  relics,  171. 
San  Antonio  Mines,  112. 
Sandarach,  339,  345,  348-352. 
Sanderson,  William,    quoted,    278,   279, 

351. 
San  Domingo:  mines,  36,  93;   voyage, 

40. 

Sandstone,  127. 
Sandyx,  340,  349,  353,  354. 
San  Francisco,  Cal.,  106. 
San  Marco  Library,  251. 
Sanskrit,  8. 
Sanuto,  quoted,  53. 
Santa  Barbara,  112. 
Saone  River,  171,  178. 
Saracens :   conquest,  44,  46,  219 ;  white 

lead,  255,  259,  260 ;  glazing,  358.    (See 

Arabs ,  Moors.) 

Sardinia  :  mining,  19,  42 ;  Arabs,  53 ;  re- 
lation to  Savoy,  output,  66. 
Saturnine  Red,  349. 

I  Saturn  :  symbol,  11-14;  salts,  267,  270. 
!  Saugerties,  N.  Y.,  319,  325,  327. 
j  Saukee  Indians,  121. 
j  Savary's  Dictionary,  293,  294,  355,  357. 
Savoy  :  relics,  23 ;  lead,  51 ;  house  of  Sar 

dinia,  66. 


384 


INDEX. 


Saxellye  Patent,  285. 

Saxony  :  settled,  47  ;  lead,  48  ;  mines  re- 
opened, 64 ;  furnaces,  126. 

Saye  and  Sele,  commission,  74. 

Scales,  190. 

Scarlet,  339. 

Scarabasus,  180. 

Scheldt  River,  galleys,  245. 

Schelestadt,  358. 

Schliemann,  Henry  :  discoveries,  5,  170; 
relics,  152-154;  Mycenas,  191;  Tiryns, 
156,  200  ;  glazing,  358. 

Schoolcraft,  H.  R. :  Galena  District,  37  ; 
Missouri,  85,  91,  98,  102,  103,  122  ;  ad- 
ventures, 91 :  shot-towers,  96 ;  Louis- 
iana, 97,  98;  tour,  103. 

Schoonhoven  Factories,  271. 

Schoonmaker  Factory,  331. 

Schuzenbach,  ingenious  process,  311. 

Schweifiirt  Factories,  311. 

Scilly  Islands,  130. 

Scotland,  38. 

Sculpture :  Egyptian,  196, 197 ;  diversity, 
230. 

Seals,  170-172. 

Secreti  Diversi,  251,  350. 

Secretii,  247,  253,  259. 

Segreti  per  Colori,  348. 

Seine  River.  177-184. 

Sepulchres,  188,  189. 

Sebosti,  343. 

Seville  :  old  inhabitant,  20 ;  border,  62. 

Shakespeare,  quoted,  14. 

Shalmanezer  II.,  198. 

Shea's  Collection,  82,  89,  92. 

Sheet  Lead  (q.  v.),  267,  268,  285,  286,  305, 
306,  308,  309. 

Sheffield  white  lead,  280,  281,  291. 

Shelburne,  N.  H.,  78. 

Shells  :  pilgrim,  81 ;  for  paints,  277. 

Shibboleth  Mine,  97,  98. 

Shilletto,  Arthur  R.,  17. 

Shipman,  D.  B.,  331. 

Shovels  :  oaken,  50 ;  sufficient,  86,  97. 

Shropshire  :  mining,  28  ;  relics,  30. 

Siberia :  mines,  16,  17 ;  trade,  22;  prison- 
ers, 41 ;  furnaces,  48. 

Sicily :  ancient  mines,  19,  42 ;  conquest, 
46 ;  litharge,  342. 

Si  don  :  history,  3  ;  relics,  26. 

Sierra  de  Almagrera,  62. 

Sierra  de  Gador,  62. 

Sierra  Morena,  20. 

Signs  :  tavern,  186,  187  ;  writers,  221. 

Sil,  339,  340. 

Silesian  Mines,  48,  64. 


Silks,  trade,  45. 

Silliman,  Professor,  78. 

Silver :  accidental  discovery,  2 ;  trade,  4 ; 
early  known,  6 ;  names,  7-9 ;  connec- 
tion with  lead,  8,  9,  21,  29,  59, 106, 114, 
115,  127,  128,  132-135,  138,  141,  142, 
343,  345  ;  synonymous  with  money,  10, 
128,  148,  186 ;  Bible,  10,  32,  123,  124 ; 
Asiatic  names,  11  ;  alchemy,  12 ;  im- 
plements, 16  ;  not  separated  from  lead, 
19 ;  triumphal  processions,  20  ;  city 
founded,  23 ;  greed,  21 ;  metallurgy, 
58,  63;  Crown  reserve,  72,  88;  In- 
dians, 81 ;  not  found,  95 ;  decline  in 
price,  109;  revival,  110;  early  writers, 
116;  Pliny,  129,  130;  bullion,  128;  dif- 
fering, 132 ;  plummet,  133 ;  temples, 
134 ;  melting,  136 ;  unchanged,  136, 
137 ;  reprobate,  137  ;  refining,  139 ;  re- 
covered, 140 ;  crusts,  145 ;  purifica- 
tion, 147 ;  denarius,  149 ;  in  anchors, 
151 ;  Troad,  152  ;  vase,  154 ;  Swiss 
lakes,  156;  pipes,  158;  bust,  170; 
counterfeit  money,  175 ;  tokens,  182, 
187;  small  coins,  186;  buckles,  188; 
ecclesiastical  articles,  189 ;  burial- 
mounds,  190 ;  mirror,  190,  191 ;  table 
furniture,  192  ;  scarcity,  192,  194 ; 
false,  215;  scum,  215,  340;  ornaments, 
230,  341;  red  sand,  337;  pigment,  339; 
seats  of  production,  galena,  341 ; 
spuma,  342;  sandarach,  345;  litharge, 
347,  351 ;  pottery,  358. 

Silver-mining  :  Red  Sea,  15,  16 ;  Assyria, 
15 ;  Tartary,  17 ;  Spain,  21  ;  Siberia, 
22  ;  France,  24,  51 ;  South  America,  37 ; 
Linares,  47;  Great  Britain,  50,  59; 
Alps,  52;  Cardiganshire,  56;  Australia, 
61;  lease,  62;  Connecticut,  78;  Mis- 
sissippi River,  83,  93;  Kentucky,  87; 
Northwest,  90 ;  Great  West,  Utah,  106 ; 
Mexico,  110,  111;  silver  stone,  335. 
(See  Litharge.} 

Sing  Sing  Refinery,  74. 

Sinkers,  152. 

Sinking  Spring  Valley,  75-77. 

Sisapon  Mines,  20. 

Slag,  123,  124,  141. 

Slavery  :  Greece  and  Egypt,  39 ;  Rome, 
40,  41. 

Slaves:  in  mines,  18,  39,  47,  93,  95; 
trade,  22;  metallurgy,  116;  discipline, 
164. 

Slings,  161-163. 

Smelting  and  Refining,  114-145. 

Smith,  C.  Roach,  24,  168-171, 188. 


INDEX. 


385 


Smith's  Factory,  317. 

Smith  Fort,  103. 

Smith,  George,  quoted,  198. 

Smith,  John,  quoted,  264,  278,  279,  353. 

Smyrna,  203. 

Societies  :  Mines  Royall,  Minerals  and 
Battery,  56.  (See  Guilds.) 

Soldering,  8,  146,  148,  160,  161. 

Soldering-iron,  179. 

Sol,  discovery,  2. 

Solomon,  glazing,  359. 

Somersetshire,  inscriptions,  30. 

Sonora  Mines,  111,  112. 

Soulard's  Grant,  84. 

South  America :  water,  37 ;  mining 
wealth,  Indians,  113. 

Southampton,  Eng. :  bust,  170;  sheriff, 
242. 

Southampton,  Mass.,  74,  77,  78. 

South  Carolina,  military  supplies,  76. 

Southern  Company,  331,  333. 

Southern  Rebellion  :  effect  on  mining,  99; 
white  lead,  322;  close,  330.  (See  Civil 
War.) 

Southern  States,  prisoners,  42. 

South  Pacific  Railway,  103. 

Souy-Wen-Ty,  decree,  149. 

Sows  (sowes)  of  Lead,  120,  185. 

Spain  :  accidental  discovery.  2 ;  coast,  4 ; 
litharge,  9;  Phoenicians,  19,  20;  con- 
quered, 20,  40,  43,  46  ;  mineral  wealth, 
21,  42  ;  coast,  25  ;  ore  exhausted,  27  ; 
relics,  32 ;  mines  long  opened,  35 ;  wa- 
ter in  mines,  36;  relations  to  France, 
50,  66  ;  to  Sardinia,  53 ;  Columbus,  53  ; 
English  trade,  57,  60 ;  increase  of  lead, 
59;  refining,  60;  competition,  61 ;  out- 
side companies,  63,  64;  tin,  131,  132; 
pigs  of  lead,  138 :  Saracens,  255,  260, 
358;  lead  to  Italy,  272;  trade  with 
Belgium,  275 ;  lead  plentiful,  292. 
(See  Iberia.) 

Spaniards  :  American  gains,  71  ;  con- 
quests, 88,  119;  rule  in  America,  96, 
97  ;  Mexico,  111 ;  old  writers,  112 ;  fur- 
naces, 117, 174  ;  navigation,  151 ;  white 
lead,  217  ;  chemistry,  230  ;  drugs,  237  ; 
metal-working,  257  ;  minium,  337,  345  ; 
commerce,  341,  342  ;  glazing,  358. 

Spanish :  name  for  lead,  8,  9 ;  white 
lead,  247,  255 ;  minium,  349 ;  litharge, 
351. 

Spanish  Green,  237. 

Spata,  antiquity,  191. 

Specifications  for  Patents,  278. 

Speiss,  101,  141. 


Spice-trade,  45. 

Spoons  :  ivory  and  lead,  27  ;  pewter,  194. 

Sprengel's  Edition,  343. 

Spuma  Argenti,  340-344. 

Squier  and  Davis,  81. 

Stable-litter,  320.     (See  Dung.) 

Stannum,  128-136,  190,  217,  218,  341. 

Stars,  influence,  13.     (See  Planets.) 

Staten  Island,  327. 

Statuary,  150. 

Steelyard  Weights  (q.  v.),  169,  170. 

Stephen,  King,  edicts,  48. 

Stephens,  Henry,  quoted,  56. 

Stevenson,  J.  J.,  319. 

Stone  County,  102,  103. 

Stone :  tools,  17  ;  age,  30 ;  pipes,  160. 

Stones,  History,  205,  213,  281,  337,  340. 

Strabo's  Geography  :  fable,  2 ;  Tyrians,  3; 

Homer,  10;    Greek  mines,  18;   crude 

mining,  19 ;  mountains,  20  ;  silver,  21 ; 

Cassiterides,  25, 26, 130 ;  water  in  mines, 

36;  tin,  131;  cupeltation,  137;  slings, 

161. 

Stucco,  201,  202. 
Stylus,  190. 
Suakim,  16. 
Suetonius,  quoted,  134. 
Suevi,  43. 

Suffolk  Works,  327. 
Sullivan  County,  N.  Y.,  79. 
Sulphide,  114. 
Sulphur:   relation  to  lead,  14,  117,  125, 

128,  139,  141 ;  percentage,  115. 
Sulphurous  Gas,  140. 
Summit,  Mo.,  101. 
Sun,  and  metals,  11,  12. 
Sun-god,  2,  3,  6. 

Superior,  Lake  :  lead,  80 ;  copper,  82. 
Surrey  :  painters,  243 ;  sheriff,  260 ;  vase, 

358. 

Swansea  District,  353. 
Swansea,  Grant  Francis,  quoted,  57. 
Sweden :  present  yield,  67 ;  burial-mounds, 

190. 
Swedes:   in  Pennsylvania,  75;   imports, 

312. 

Swedish  Language,  lead,  8. 
Swiss  Lakes  :  relics,  153 ;  sites,  156. 
Switzerland,  relations  to  Venice,  45.   (See 

Alps.) 

Sword-handles,  150. 
Sydney  Mines,  61. 
Syenite,  31. 
Syriac  Schools,  218. 
Syracuse,  siege,  164. 
Syricum,  340. 


25 


386 


INDEX. 


T. 


TABLE  (tableau),  186. 

Tacitus,  quoted,  41. 

Tambroni:  preface,  223,  237;  trade,  246, 
255 ;  manuscript,  249,  257. 

Tamchow  Mine,  69. 

Tan-bark,  291,  307,  308,  320. 

Tantonsq,  Conn.,  75. 

Tapestry,  240,  242. 

Tartars,  history,  17. 

Tasco  Mines,  110,  112. 

Tauli  Mine,  113. 

Taunton  Process,  333. 

Tauris  Journey,  17. 

Tavern-signs,  186-188. 

Teeth,  for  implements,  17. 

Tennessee,  68. 

Tertiarum,  solder,  135. 

Teruel,  63. 

Tesserae,  172,  173. 

Thasco  Mines,  17. 

Theatre  Seals,  172. 

Thebes,  paintings,  199. 

Thenard  Process,  295,  298,  299,  308. 

Theodotus,  ceruse,  203. 

Theognis,  quoted,  137. 

Theophilus :  silver-purification,  138 ; 
manuscript,  222-226 ;  description,  223, 
230;  era,  228;  Cambridge  copy,  229; 
church  adornments,  230 ;  encyclopaedia, 
231 ;  green,  232  ;  mixing  colors,  233  ; 
ceruse,  234 ;  white  lead,  236,  254,  257, 
258;  buildings,  243;  dung-heat,  249; 
Grecian  colors,  257 ;  methods,  265,  266 ; 
outgrown,  333;  vermilion,  346;  red, 
347. 

Theophrastus :  paint,  205,  208;  verdigris, 
212,  213  ;  manuscript,  222  ;  white  lead, 
227,  234,  254;  age,  235;  lead-process, 
281 ;  cinnabar,  337,  340. 

Theseus  Temple,  200. 

Thierry,  Abbot  of.  staff,  189. 

Thoas,  discovery,  2. 

Thompson,  A.  P.,  327,  328. 

Thonea  Foundries,  18. 

Thornburg  Establishment,  331. 

Thornbury,  Walter,  quoted,  186. 

Thotmes  III. :  tribute,  15 ;  army,  146. 

Thrace,  43. 

Thunder  Bay,  80. 

Tifenau  Discovery,  156. 

Tin  :  early  known,  6  ;  discovery,  7 ; 
names,  8,  11,  130,  132 ;  Bible,  10,  134, 
137,  152;  alchemy,  12;  established, 
26 ;  excise  tax,  57  ;  trade,  131 ;  alloy, 


133;  eighth  century,  135;  soldering, 
161 ;  stannum,  191 ;  in  pewter,  193 ; 
salts,  201 ;  not  in  certain  mixtures,  304 ; 
giallolino,  350. 

Tin  Articles :  plummet,  133 ;  coins,  156, 
176,  187, 188;  tokens,  176;  saints,  182; 
ecclesiastical  objects,  189;  ornaments, 
230 ;  vessels,  303. 

Tin-mining :  India,  22,  134 ;  Britain,  22, 
24,  25,  28,  48,  51,  57,  130;  Connecticut, 
75;  Mexico,  110;  Scilly  Isles,  130; 
ancient,  131 ;  China,  149 ;  first,  192. 

Tinning,  135,  136. 

Tin-potmakers,  193. 

Tin-smelting,  118,  120. 

Tingle,  William,  103. 

Tingry,  P.  F.,  quoted,  270. 

Tintoretto's  Fresco,  259. 

Tiryns  :  pottery,  5  ;  relics,  154,  156,  200. 
(See  Schliemann.) 

Tithes,  50,  51. 

Titian's  Colors,  259. 

Titus,  Emperor  :  bust,  170 ;  baths,  345. 

Tokens,  172,  173.     (See  Coins,  Seals.) 

Tongs,  36. 

Tools  :  Roman,  ancient,  27,  28 ;  Nubian, 
31 ;  manufacturing,  231. 

Topazo  Island,  345. 

Torches,  38. 

Totthill,  Richard,  quoted,  237. 

Toul,  Bishop  of,  50. 

Toys,  165,  166,  177. 

Trade :  anciently  extensive,  22 ;  dis- 
courses, 57. 

Tradesmen :  signs,  186,  187 ;  tokens,  188. 

Trau's  Collection,  170. 

Trebizond,  17. 

Trenchers,  192. 

Trevor  Factory,  319. 

Trinity  College  Library,  222,  224,  229. 

Trinity  Lane,  186. 

Troad :  relics,  152-154.    (See Schliemann.) 

Trojan  War:  mines,  18;  chariots,  26. 

Troyes  Fairs,  245. 

Troy,  Homer's,  153. 

Tunis  Mines,  17. 

Turdetani,  36. 

Turin  :  museum,  147  ;  sales,  237. 

Turkey :  trade,  57 ;  present  yield,  67.  (See 
East,  Orient.) 

Turner,  James,  patent,  283,  284. 

Tuscany:  mines,  52;  furnaces,  118;  en- 
amel," 230 ;  red  lead,  358.  ( See  Italy. ) 

Tutilo  the  Monk,  223. 

Tylor,  quoted,  25,  26,  29,  167. 

Tyre,  history,  3,  4. 


INDEX. 


387 


u. 


ULSTER  COUNTY,  79,  327. 

Union  Pacific  Railway,  9,  105. 

Unionvifle,  Md.,  76. 

Union  White  Lead  Company,  328. 

United  States :  prisoners,  41,  42  ;  yield  of 
lead,  59,  109,  327;  geological  survey, 
63,  106,  107,  109,  145 ;  metallic  wealth, 
63,74,75,80,  116;  mineral  resources, 
63-68,105-107;  mining  rental,  85 ;  sup- 
plies from  Mexico,  112,  113 ;  furnaces, 
126,  127 ;  white-lead  manufacture,  203, 
313-334;  pure  lead,  274;  substitutes, 
281 ;  sublimated  lead,  289 ;  conserva- 
tive methods,  290  ;  official  reports,  312 ; 
arts  and  manufactures,  316 ;  factories. 
316;  first  seat,  317,  318;  prices,  318; 
important  epoch,  320 ;  supply  and  con- 
sumption, 322 ;  eastern  factories,  323  ; 
Gardner  patents,  329 ;  estimates  of 
output,  329,  330 ;  resources  of  science, 
332;  new  methods,  332,  333;  annual 
product,  334;  lead  oxides,  357.  (See 
America.) 

Ural  Mountains,  9,  17,  68,  118. 

Uriconium  :  blowpipes,  161 ;  bowl,  166. 

Urine,  283.     (See  Dung.) 

Urns,  Roman,  167. 

Uruguay  Mines,  113. 

Usta,  339,  343.     (See  Cerussa.) 

Utah  Mines,  108. 

Utensils :  Roman,  150 ;  pewter  and  lead, 
194.  (See  Furniture,  House,  Spoons, 
Table.) 

Utrecht,  white  lead,  270,  271. 


V. 


VALENCIA  MINES,  23. 

Valle,  Francois,  95,  96,  98. 

Valle',  Jean  Baptiste,  98. 

Valois,  House  of,  182. 

Vandals,  43. 

Vanderberg  Factory,  320. 

Van  Eyck :  invention,  223;  works,  259. 

Vappa,  212. 

Vases,  166,  167,  199,  230,  358. 

Vatican  Manuscripts,  249. 

Vega,  Garcilaso  de  la,  Peru,  139. 

Venice  :  founded,  44 ;  manuscript,  222 ; 
Alcherius,  226 ;  church,  230,  251  ;  fac- 
tories, 273 ;  no  more  white  lead,  301 ; 
litharge,  350. 


Venetians  :  trade,  45,  243-246,  255,  256  ; 
Theophilus,  223,  224;  Constantinople, 
244;  manuscript,  251;  Holland,  255, 
256 ;  fresco,  259 ;  white  lead,  261,  262 ; 
process,  269,  270 ;  no  lead,  272. 

Venetian  White,  252,  260-266;  Eng- 
land, 276;  process,  278;  purest,  284, 
293-296;  name,  311;  driven  away, 
352. 

Venus :  symbol,  11 ;  worship,  165. 

Vercellse  Mines,  19. 

Verdigris,  135,  212,  213. 

Verecundus,  L.  A.,  30. 

Vergennes  Factory,  299. 

Vermont,  galena,  78. 

Vermilion,  346.     ( See  Red. ) 

Vernatti,  Sir  Philiberto,  264-266,  269; 
process,  278. 

Veronese,  Paul,  fresco,  259. 

Verus,  inscription,  29. 

Very  Proper  Treatise,  261,  276. 

Vesuvius,  200,  201. 

Victor  Emanuel  II. :  mining  operations, 
66 ;  era,  272. 

Vienna  Factories,  311. 

Villacher  Lead,  306. 

Villach :  mines,  67 ;  new  process,  305, 
306 ;  factories,  311. 

Villefranche  Mine,  23. 

Vinegar:  splitting  rocks,  34;  manufac- 
ture, 211,  212 ;  connection  with  white 
lead,  221,  222,  227,  232-234,  248,  250, 
265,  266,  270,  281 ;  white,  251 ;  new 
process.  284 ;  pipe,  286 ;  use,  294,  307, 
308,  311 ;  discarded,  304. 

Virgil,  quoted,  192. 

Virginia :  settlements,  71-73;  mining,  77, 
79. 

Visigoths,  conquest,  43,  46. 

Visser,  John,  reports,  271,  272. 

Vitellius,  Temples,  134. 

Vitruvius:  era,  154;  advice,  155;  aque- 
ducts, 159,  160 ;  colors,  200,  201 ;  white 
lead,  205,  206,  208,  227,  234,  254; 
Rhodes,  214;  manuscript,  222;  era, 
272 ;  process,  281 ;  minium,  337,  338, 
344;  decorations,  344 ;  red  lead,  349. 

Vivarais  Mine,  51. 

Volpato  :  manuscript,  252  ;  litharge,  351. 

Von  Justi :  white  lead,  262 ;  demand,  303 ; 
adulterations,  303,  304 ;  factories,  311 ; 
massicot,  354,  355;  red  lead,  355, 
356. 

Von  Tschudi,  J.  J.,  quoted,  113, 123. 

Vosges  Mines,  51,  65,  66. 

Votive  Offerings,  166. 


388 


INDEX. 


W. 

WAISTI  KARU  MOUNTAINS,  16. 

Wales :  Tour,  24,  28,  29,  33,  49,  56-58, 
119, 152, 180, 356 ;  impressment,  41, 49  ; 
miners,  60. 

Walpole,  Horace :  item  of  expenditure, 
186  ;  dwellings,  241 ;  manuscripts,  257 ; 
order,  260. 

Warner,  Consul,  report,  312. 

War  of  1812,  317,  326. 

Warrerie,  Earl,  coffin,  169. 

Washington  County,  333. 

Water:  element,  11;  in  mines,  35-38; 
sour,  284. 

Waters  &  Co.,  330,  331. 

Water-wheels,  37,  38,  138. 

Watin,  Le  Sieur  J.  F.,  quoted,  262,  263, 
274,  275,  301. 

Watson's  Essays  :  estimate,  57,  58 ;  air- 
currents,  124  ;  chimney,  282 ;  method, 
283 ;  location,  290 ;  flint  glass,  356,  357. 

Weapons,  lead  in  bronze,  150. 

Wedges:  use,  33,  34,  47;  bronze,  36; 
willow,  154. 

Weights,  169, 170,  194,  245. 

Welch  and  Evans,  patent,  318. 

Werkblei,  128,  135. 

Western  Company,  331. 

West  Indies,  agent,  94. 

Westminster,  242. 

Westphalia  Works,  126. 

West,  the:  growth,  324;  transportation 
difficult,  329.  (See  America.) 

Wetherill  and  Company,  79. 

Wetherill  and  Sons,  223. 

Wetherill,  Samuel :  white  lead,  314,  315; 
factory,  316 ;  enterprise,  317;  patent, 
319. 

Wetherill,  W.  H.  H.,  narrative,  315. 

Wharton,  President,  77. 

Wheels,  153,  166.  188. 

White  Copper,  135. 

White  Gold,  7,9. 

White  Lead  :  early  use,  129, 130 ;  relation 
to  tin,  132, 135, 136,  161 ;  sixth  century, 
134;  ancient  times,  196-216;  traces, 
202 ;  pigment,  202,  208,  277 ;  oil,  ships, 
203;  Dutch  (g.  v.)  process,  204-333  pas- 
sim ;  described,  205,  206 ;  names,  205 
253, 274, 288, 293,  301, 303, 304, 311,  352 
old  methods,  205-209, 213, 214 ;  modern 
science,  207,  208 ;  eyes,  208 ;  acetate 
209 ;  theories,  209,  210  ;  cosmetics,  214 
-216;  discoloration,  216,  298;  eighth 
to  twelfth  century,  217-238;  where 


made,  217,  218;  receipts,  221,  222,  227- 
235,  248-253;  general  use,  228;  base, 
229 ;  medicine,  236 ;  twelfth  to  seven- 
teenth century,  239-254 ;  account- 
books,  242,  243 ;  secret,  247,  250,  285 ; 
loaves,  250 ;  grinding,  250,  304 ;  sub- 
stitutes, 253,  254,  281,  289,290;  very 
white,  253,  254 ;  widespread,  254 ;  Italy, 
Holland,  Belgium,  255-275 ;  receipts, 
257-273  passim  ;  modern  methods,  257, 
258;  Venice,  258-264,  269-273,  276, 
278,  284,  293,  296,  301,  311 ;  adultera- 
tion, 263,  270,  274,  303,  304,  830  ;  acci- 
dents, 265;  pure,  267,  274,  277,  293, 
296,  304 ;  inferior,  272 ;  production, 
273,  274;  test,  274,  275;  Great  Britain, 
276-291;  Eland  patent,  277;  prepara- 
tion, 278;  English  receipts,  278-291; 
principle,  278,  279;  old  buildings,  279; 
drying,  280 ,  fumes,  281 ;  production, 
291,299,  300;  France,  292-300;  French 
receipts,  292,  294,  297-299;  English 
grade,  293 ;  painting,  296  ;  factory,  299 ; 
Germany  and  Austro-Hungary,  301- 
312;  German  methods,  302-311 ;  Prus- 
sia, 303;  yield,  311, 312;  United  States, 
313-334 ;  premium,  315 ;  Philadelphia, 
315-318,  324,  325 ;  American  Process, 
318-320,  325,  326;  New  York,  319- 
325 ;  early  use,  322,  326 ;  price,  323,  327, 
330;  syndicate,  323,  324;  West,  324- 
326 ;  New  England,  324 ;  production, 
327-334;  patents,  330-334;  sublimed, 
332 ;  roasted,  338,  339,  344  ;  vermilion, 
346;  flesh  color,  347  ;  sandaracca  (q.  v.), 
348  ;  red  lead,  powder,  354 ;  oxidation, 
355 ;  works,  357. 

White  River,  Mo.,  102. 

Whitney,  J.  D.,  quoted,  63,  74,  75,  80. 

Wight,  Isle  of,  beads,  190. 

Wilfrid,  Bishop,  Church,  239. 

Wilkinson,  John,  patent,  284. 

Wilkinson,  Sir  J.  Gardner,  quoted,  7,  8, 
10,  15, 16,  31,  123,  131,  146, 161,  197. 

William  of  Florence,  260. 

Williams,  Albert,  mineral  resources,  48 ; 
quoted,  63-68. 

Williams,  Charles  P.,  report,  63,  300. 

Williams,  John,  Mineral  Kingdom,  33. 

William  the  Conqueror,  270« 

Wilson,  Daniel,  150. 

Wilts,  coffin,  168. 

Winchester,  great  chamber,  242. 

Windlass,  rude,  86. 

Windmills,  119,  124. 

Windows :  variety,  230 ;  glass,  240,  241. 


INDEX. 


389 


Wine  :   ancient  trade,  22 ;  monopoly,  51  ; 

with  white  lead,  249, 265,  268, 283,  285  ; 

and  vinegar,  303,  311-313. 
Winsor,  Justin,  quoted,  90. 
Winthrop  Family,  grant,  74,  75. 
Wirksworth  :  mines,  48  ;  name,  48,  49. 
Wisconsin  :   abundance  of  lead,  80 ;    ore, 

109 ;  clay,  116. 
Withers,  R.  E.,  report,  69. 
Wolfenbiittel,  Manuscript,  222,  223. 
Wolfsberg  Process,  305. 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  pipe,  190. 
Wood:  Chinese  idea,  11  ;  plated,  215. 
Wood,  William,  330. 
Wooden :  tools,  27  ;  pipes,  160. 
Worcester,  Eng.,  tokens,  187. 
Worcester,  Mass.,  early,  74. 
Workes- Worth,  118. 
Wormerveer,  270. 
Wroxeter,  161.     (See  Uriconium.) 
Wyethe  Company,  79. 


X. 

XENOPHON:   silver,  16;  slings,  161;  cos- 
metic story,  214,  215. 


Y. 


YAJUR  VEDA,  quoted,  147. 

Yellow,  351. 

Yesso  Mines,  68. 

York :  place  selected,  26 ;  relics,  29,  166 ; 

cathedral,  239. 
Yorkshire :   mines,  27 ;  pigs,  29 ;  coast, 

coffin,  168. 

Yule's  Translation,  17. 
Yurup  Mine,  68. 


Z. 


ZACATECAS,  ore,  112. 

Zann  River,  271. 

Zechariah,  quoted,  133,  152. 

Zedler's  Lexicon,  262,  302. 

Zephyrum,  341. 

Zimapan  Mine,  112. 

Zinc :    Kentucky,   87 ;    with    lead,   114, 

115;    process,    144,    145;    oxide,  282, 

330. 

Zinnobars,  345. 
Zippe,  Dr.,  transmutation,  13,  14. 


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